Sandra GRENTZINGER

A humanistic alternative for senior accommodation

Welcome to La Marpa de la Doller ! Located in Sentheim, a village of 1,600 inhabitants in the heart of Alsace, this assisted living facility can accommodate up to 25 residents. The average age is 87. All residents have their own private flat (40 m² studio flats for single people and 50 m² one-bedroom flats for couples), with the option of sharing meals and enjoying the communal areas, as well as socialising and taking part in activities. ‘The aim is for everyone to be able to participate in the life of the home,’ explains Sandra Grentzinger. ‘They can give their opinion on the weekly menu or the program of activities, lend a hand with food preparation or setting the table… It’s a real home, where everyone’s abilities are valued and their sense of usefulness is boosted!’
Unlike a nursing home, Marpa does not provide medical care. However, support staff are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. ‘It is therefore a very good alternative form of accommodation that allows residents to maintain their independence and preserve their social ties.’

A strong associative tie

The first Marpa were launched in the 1980s by the Mutualité Sociale Agricole (MSA) as part of its action programme against dependency. The idea was to enable elderly people to remain in their villages. Today, there are more than 200 Marpa in France. The one in the Doller Valley opened in 2009.

But after fifteen years in operation, the organisation found itself at a turning point. The Covid crisis, a management vacuum lasting several months, sharply rising costs… Faced with these growing challenges, Sandra Grentzinger decided to join Marpa and became its director. She was already familiar with how the Marpa worked having gained experience at the MSA Alsace group, where she supported the various structures, and in her first position as director at Marpa in Huningue, which she oversaw the opening of in 2017. “After five years, the Marpa in Huningue was up and running. So I wanted to join the one in La Doller, both because I wanted to bring something new to the team and because I was attracted to its 100% associative model. The commitment to serving the elderly is particularly strong there.”

Consolidating the model

Upon her arrival, the new director set herself several objectives: ‘to overhaul protocols and practices, revitalise staff training and, above all, seek budgetary optimisations of equivalent quality in the face of sharply rising costs. We therefore reviewed all of our suppliers.’ During this period of restructuring, Sandra called on France Active. ‘Our economic model is based exclusively on billing residents, who have very little additional budgetary capacity.’ France Active then granted a €30,000 associative contribution contract. “This gave us some breathing room in terms of cash flow. In addition to this, I appreciated the follow-up. These regular exchanges allowed me to look at things from a different angle and refocus my priorities. Our challenge for the coming years is to preserve our human-scale model, which offers residents a real quality of life and support.”