Périfan, a longtime resident of Paris’s 17th arrondissement, has been involved in community projects in the area since the 1990s. It all began when he was stunned to read a grim news segment: An elderly woman was found dead in her apartment in Paris. Socially isolated, she had lain there for four months before being discovered. “It’s terrible to have somebody so detached from society,” says Périfan. “We can’t let this happen.