L'Autre "lieu" asbl

What L'Autre "lieu" asbl does

L'Autre "lieu" – RAPA (Recherche-Action sur la Psychiatrie et les Alternatives) is a Belgian non-profit association (asbl) founded in 1980 and headquartered at 5, rue de la Clé, 1000 Brussels. It operates as a daily community space for people concerned by mental health issues, functioning as a passage and gathering point that combines peer accompaniment, mutual aid, housing support, and creative/artistic practices (writing, photography, meditation, body-oriented care). Its services and activities are free to participants, and the organization is funded through Belgian French-speaking public authorities (Commission communautaire française, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, SPFB), member contributions, and donations, rather than via commercial revenue.

The operational core is a set of recurring community activities — Amikaro Coffee, the Acrasiales writing workshops, photographic Arpentages, and the La Graine speech-and-mutual-aid space — augmented by housing formulas, information and awareness campaigns (including a 2026 'Sécuriser nos usages du soin' campaign), and published knowledge outputs such as the 2024 'altera-FuturaRenner' inclusive typeface co-developed with La Cambre typography masters. Technically, the organization's digital footprint is intentionally minimal: a WordPress-based website with no cookies, CDN, or third-party trackers, supported by organic social channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, SoundCloud) and a weekly newsletter.

Commercially, L'Autre "lieu" has no pricing model, no paying customers, no disclosed revenue, and no funding rounds; it operates an ongoing collective governance model with approximately 6 staff and pursues ideological continuity with the broader International Network Alternative to Psychiatry movement rather than growth or scaling.

Name

L'Autre "lieu" asbl

Legal name

L'Autre "lieu" – RAPA asbl

Website

https://autrelieu.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

1980

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

L'Autre "lieu" is a Brussels-based non-profit (asbl) founded in 1980 that operates a daily community space offering free peer accompaniment, mutual aid, housing support, and creative activities to people concerned by mental health issues.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Mental Health Services

NAICS

Residential Intellectual and Developmental Disability, Mental Health, and Substance Abuse Facilities (6232)

SIC

Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Behavioral Health–Capable Assisted Living (Mental Health/SUD Support) (HLADABAI)

akta.pro secondary industry

Independent Living with Supportive Services (Light ADL/IADL Support) (HLADAAAE)

Keywords

• Community mental health support
• Alternative psychiatry advocacy
• Peer accompaniment services
• Creative wellness workshops
• Community housing support

Headquarters

HQ city

Bruxelles (Brussels)

HQ country

Belgium

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Others

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

L'Autre "lieu" runs a freely accessible community space in central Brussels where people concerned by mental health issues gather daily, with peer-led support, creative/artistic activities (writing workshops, photo walks, meditation, TRE, Gi Qong), housing formulas, and accompaniment in living environments. It also produces publications — including a custom inclusive typeface created with La Cambre — and runs information/sensitization campaigns.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Amikaro Coffee A friendly gathering space held every Friday afternoon (13h–17h) where "amix" (friendship) circles are formed in Esperanto. Participants engage in socializing, crafts, reading, cooking, and music in a self-managed environment. Targeted at members and visitors of L'Autre "lieu."
• Acrasiales (writing workshop) A creative writing workshop offering collective and individual games focused on poetry and fiction, producing published compilations including "Acrasiales Estivales." Open to anyone interested in writing and drawing.
• Arpentages photographiques Collective photography walks exploring Brussels neighborhoods via 3–7 km routes with themed focuses such as architecture, reflections, nature, words, and spaces of expression. Activities include group viewings and result in publications.
• La Graine (peer mutual-aid space) A speech and mutual-aid space open to all where participants share experiences, personal trials, difficulties, victories, and desires, focusing on resources and energies rather than weaknesses.
• Usages du soin body and heart wellness workshops Body and heart wellness activities including TRE (Tension & Trauma Release Exercises), Gi Qong, meditation, and other care practices offered as part of the 2026 campaign.
• Housing formulas and accompaniment in living environments (Maisons) Diverse housing formulas and accompaniment/support services within members' own living environments, for people concerned by mental health issues.
• Information, sensitization and form'actions programs Information, awareness, and training sessions (info-sensibilisation and form'actions) on alternative approaches to psychiatry and mental health, delivered to public and professional audiences.
• altera-FuturaRenner inclusive typeface A custom inclusive typeface created in collaboration with the La Cambre Masters in Typography program, derived from the Formera (Futura Renner) by Bastien Sozoo. Features inclusive language encoding (QUNI system), special glyphs for "trouble," and systems to mark or "sublimate" specific lexicon on the website and in publications.
• Acrasiales Estivales publication A downloadable PDF collection of writings from summer 2018 Acrasiales writing workshop sessions.

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and supportive.

• La Cambre (Masters Typo)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Collaboration to create the 'altera-FuturaRenner' custom typography, developed from Bastien Sozoo's Formera font. This inclusive typeface allows for gender-inclusive writing and features special systems for 'sublimating' or 'troubling' certain medical terms related to mental health.
• Commission communautaire française de la Région de Bruxelles-CapitalecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner
• Fédération Wallonie-BruxellescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner
• Service de Promotion de la Santé à l'École (SPFB)supportiveStrategic or Co-development Partner

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Similes Belgique: Belgian non-profit support organization for families and individuals affected by mental health difficulties. Closest Belgian analogue in terms of geography, non-profit status, and peer/community accompaniment model, though its primary constituency skews toward family carers.
• Hearing Voices Network (Intervoice): International peer-support network for people who hear voices and an umbrella for affiliated groups. Shares L'Autre 'lieu's foundational premise that distress experiences can be supported outside mainstream psychiatric models and convenes peer-led, community-based groups analogous to La Graine and Amikaro Coffee.
• Mad Pride: International movement that organizes community events, creative outputs, and advocacy challenging psychiatric stigma — directly comparable to L'Autre 'lieu's combination of cultural production (typography, publications), public gatherings, and reframing of 'trouble' as identity rather than diagnosis.

Broad incumbents

• Mind (UK): Large UK mental-health charity delivering information, peer support, and advocacy at national scale. Useful benchmark for understanding how a community-rooted mental health mission can scale into a broad, multi-channel organization offering peer support, content, and policy influence.
• NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness, US): US grassroots mental-health organization combining peer-led support groups, public education, and policy advocacy. Represents a fully scaled, federated version of the kind of peer/community support work that L'Autre 'lieu' delivers at neighborhood scale in Brussels.

Others

• Centre de Santé Mentale Universitaire (Brussels): Brussels-based university mental-health center providing outpatient psychiatric and psychological care. Useful as a regional incumbent comparator for understanding the mainstream psychiatric pathway that L'Autre 'lieu' explicitly positions itself as an alternative to.

Emerging players

• Psycovery: Belgian awareness and information initiative around mental health, addressing stigma and recovery. Comparable as a French-language Belgian peer/community-oriented mental-health actor, though oriented around awareness and information rather than physical gathering space.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/autrelieu.rapa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/autrelieu-rapa
• Instagraminstagram.com/autrelieu.bruxelles

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about L'Autre "lieu" asbl