Gilberte de Sartiges : a remarkable charity

At the beginning of the 20th century, many poor girls came
from the countryside to Lausanne to find work.
Often, their wages were very low and as a result
they did not have the means to stay in a dignified place.

The young girl Gilberte de Sartiges, from a prosperous family, takes pity on them.
She asks as a gift for her 20th birthday the house on Avenue la Rumine,
which was for sale, to start a girls’ home.
Her parents happily gave her what she had asked for and that’s how in 1909
Gilberte’s dream came true and the Foyer Bon Accueil opened its doors.

112 years of religious presence

It was Gilberte’s explicit wish that this work of mercy be entrusted to the religious sisters, and God has always provided for this wish to be fulfilled.
· 1909-1988: Sisters of the Presentation of Mary
· 1988-2000: Sisters of Saint Joseph
· 2000-2020: Sisters of Saint Maurice
· dès 2021: Servants of the Lord and the Virgin of Matará

The current house of the Foyer, the Villa Concordia at Avenue de Rumine 32, after the transformations carried out by Gilberte in 1911.

The community of the Sisters of Saint Maurice on their arrival in 2000.

Source : B. SECRETAN, Eglise et Vie Catholique à Lausanne, Bibliothèque Historique Vaudoise, 2005.