Episode #14: From Sandwiches in a Backpack to 47 Jobs. The Marie Laurini Story

Who Is Marie Laurini? The Psychologist Who Uses a Place to Bring People Back to Work

Quick answer: Marie Laurini is a psychologist and psychotherapist. She specializes in trauma from rape, torture, and war crimes. In 2019, she founded Sourrire ASBL in Luxembourg. The name stands for SOUtien pour les Résidents et Réfugiés par l’Intégration, le Respect, l’Estime de soi. Today, Maison Sourrire at 91 rue de l’Alzette in Esch-sur-Alzette employs 47 people on their way back to work. The association is recognized as a public utility in Luxembourg.

🏡 What can one address on a shopping street change in a broken life?

In this episode, we sit down with Marie Laurini at Maison Sourrire, right on the rue de l’Alzette in Esch-sur-Alzette.

She started with a backpack and 30 sandwiches at 5 a.m. She organized walks in nature with people living on the street and in refugee shelters. Then came a house in Dudelange, rent-free for two years in exchange for renovation. Then a real address in the heart of Esch. A café, a shop, workshops, and a team of 47 people rebuilding their lives through work.

She talks about her path in psychotrauma. Her years at the Croix-Rouge luxembourgeoise, the Ligue luxembourgeoise d’hygiène mentale, and Caritas. And her main point: without a place, there is no real reinsertion. The location, the design, the front door do part of the work.

This is a raw and honest conversation. No filter.

💡 What we cover in this episode

Why she became a psychologist instead of a stylist. Growing up with a mother who was severely ill. Her double master in psychotrauma. Opening a private practice at 22. Why she left individual therapy for group impact. Sandwiches at 5 a.m. and therapeutic walks. Creating Sourrire ASBL in 2019. Keeping people together through Covid. The first house in Dudelange: zero rent against renovation. The move to 91 rue de l’Alzette in Esch. The Atelier des Possibles: 47 jobs, four training poles. Why the place must not look like a social project. Furniture from the Dutch ambassador. Frescoes by Victor Tricard. Her plan: a SIS model and a second location in Belval. Writing workshops inside Schrassig prison. What Sourrire needs now: partners, donors, clients.

📌 Chapters

0:00 Introduction
0:41 Who is Marie Laurini?
1:32 She wanted to be a stylist
1:38 Growing up with a sick mother
3:03 Why Sourrire has two R’s
4:05 A father in real estate, two grandmothers
4:43 Psychology studies in Metz
5:19 A double master in psychotrauma
5:35 A private practice at 22
6:25 From individual therapy to group impact
7:21 Croix-Rouge, Ligue d’hygiène mentale, Caritas
8:11 Sandwiches at 5 a.m. and walks in nature
9:18 Who Sourrire is really for
10:25 Covid: cooking at home, three guests at a time
11:35 Creating the association in 2019
12:41 The first place in Dudelange
12:59 What a place changes
14:15 “Leave it to the big players”
15:22 The deal: zero rent against renovation
16:16 What Sourrire does concretely
16:47 The Atelier des Possibles: 47 jobs
17:21 The gap between REVIS and a real job
18:10 A program that adapts to people
18:58 First cohort: contracts already signed
19:47 The exclu: from ASBL to SIS
21:44 Maison Sourrire as proof of concept
22:59 A significant rent, no free space
23:30 No label: a front door on rue de l’Alzette
24:49 47 jobs, more candidates than space
25:52 Learning to delegate
27:17 The next location: Belval
28:43 Furniture from the Dutch ambassador
29:34 Fondation Sommer and Victor Tricard’s frescoes
30:39 “What is your dream?”
31:05 How recruitment works
32:06 The place that marked her: Schrassig prison
34:06 How to support Sourrire

Watch this if you want to know

✅ How a solo project with sandwiches became a 47-person structure

✅ Why the gap between social aid and a real job breaks people

✅ How a rent-free house deal in Dudelange launched everything

✅ Why a social project should not look like one

✅ What design and location change for vulnerable people

✅ How Sourrire plans to switch from ASBL to a SIS model

✅ Why she asks everyone the same question: what is your dream?

Who Is Marie Laurini? The Story in Key Dates

Marie Laurini is a French psychologist and psychotherapist. She specializes in trauma from rape, torture, and war crimes. She founded Sourrire ASBL in Luxembourg.

Childhood. Her mother falls severely ill when Marie is 3. Her father works in construction and real estate in Luxembourg. She grows up close to her two grandmothers, one Italian, one French. They pass on her love of shared meals.

At 17. She passes her bac one year early. She studies psychology at the University of Metz. She commutes every day.

After her master. She adds a double master in psychotrauma. War trauma, rape, torture. The hard stuff.

At 22. She opens a private practice in her village in France. It works. But it is not where she wants to be.

The Luxembourg years. She works for the Croix-Rouge luxembourgeoise. Then the Ligue luxembourgeoise d’hygiène mentale, where she leads an extra-hospital psychiatry service. Then Caritas, close to people living on the street.

Before 2019. She gets up at 5 a.m. She makes sandwiches for 30 people. She organizes therapeutic walks across Luxembourg with volunteers.

2019. Sourrire ASBL is created. Too many participants. The project needs a legal frame and insurance.

2020. Covid hits. Group walks are banned. She invites people home, three by three, around a big pot of food.

The Dudelange years. The commune offers a house for two years, rent-free, in exchange for renovation. Tralux and friends from the building sector do the work. Maison Sourrire is born.

Early 2026. Sourrire opens at 91 rue de l’Alzette in Esch-sur-Alzette. The Atelier des Possibles launches with the European Social Fund and the Ministry of Family Affairs. 47 people employed. A two-year pilot. The association is recognized as a public utility by grand-ducal decree.

Next. A switch to a SIS model. A second location in Belval, close to the university. Later, Luxembourg City.

What Makes Marie Laurini Different?

Three things stand out.

She bet everything on a place

Sourrire worked without walls. Sandwiches, walks, volunteers. But a place changed the scale. A house in Dudelange first. Then a real address in Esch. A place means a proper welcome, in any weather. It means a café where people practice a real job with real clients. No place, no reinsertion. That is her core thesis.

She closed the gap nobody wanted to own

Between social aid and a real job, there is a void. People lose the codes of work. Showing up. Calling in sick. Facing a client. The Atelier des Possibles makes people work for real, in a café, a shop, a kitchen, an office. Not a workshop about work. Actual work. With language classes and personal development on top.

She refuses the social-project look

Most social projects sit near the station, out of sight. Marie chose the main shopping street of Esch. A beautiful front door. Furniture from the residence of the Dutch ambassador. Frescoes painted by Victor Tricard with people from the street. Clients come in for lunch and do not know it is a social project. No label. No stigma. That is the point.

FAQ: Marie Laurini, Sourrire and Social Integration in Luxembourg

What is Sourrire ASBL?

Sourrire is a Luxembourg association founded in 2019 by Marie Laurini. It helps vulnerable people, residents and refugees, with jobs, housing, language classes, and wellbeing activities. All support activities are free for beneficiaries.

Why is Sourrire spelled with two R’s?

It is not a typo. It stands for SOUtien pour les Résidents et Réfugiés par l’Intégration, le Respect, l’Estime de soi. Support for residents and refugees through integration, respect, and self-esteem.

What is the Atelier des Possibles?

It is a work-integration program inside Sourrire. It employs 47 people with difficult life paths for 9 to 12 months. They train in four poles: Horeca, administration, cleaning and logistics, and manual workshops. The program is co-financed by the European Social Fund and the Ministry of Family Affairs. It is a two-year pilot for 2026 and 2027.

Where is Maison Sourrire?

At 91 rue de l’Alzette in Esch-sur-Alzette. It is a café, a shop, and a training place. Anyone can come for lunch, a coffee, or a buffet delivery. Every euro spent gives work to someone who needs it.

How is Sourrire funded?

Through the European Social Fund, the Ministry of Family Affairs, and private foundations. The association pays a market rent for its location. It is recognized as a public utility, so donations are tax-deductible in Luxembourg.

What is a SIS and why does Marie want one?

A SIS is a société d’impact sociétal, a Luxembourg social-impact company. It would let Sourrire sell services daily, employ people long-term, and depend less on public funds. Marie wants a hybrid model: public funds, foundations, and its own revenue.

How can you support Sourrire?

Four ways.
1. Become a partner company and hire program graduates.
2. Donate on sourrireasbl.lu.
3. Give furniture, dishes, or objects for the recycling workshops.
4. Or simply come as a client: lunch, coffee, or buffet delivery at 91 rue de l’Alzette.

Her Core Belief

There is one question she asks everyone.

“What is your dream?”

When you ask someone in poverty what they want to do, they say: anything. Marie never accepts that answer. Anything is not a dream. She pushes until a real answer comes out. Not because every dream can come true. But because a dream gives you a direction. And a direction needs a starting point.

That is what Maison Sourrire is. An address. A front door on a shopping street. A place where reinsertion happens through real work, with real clients.

As she tells the people who walk in: this is not your second home. It is your first one.

👉 See Also

Episode #13: Nicolas Legay: From Slides to 500 Co-Living Units

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City: Esch-sur-Alzette | Date: August 2026 | #SSY!