While Jean was teaching in Canada, Father Thomas, still at the margins of his Church, settled in a small village north of Paris and became the chaplain of Val Fleuri, a home and workshop for men with intellectual disabilities. This decision would not only give new meaning to the spirituality of Father Thomas, but would also determine the direction that Jean Vanier would take in his own life.

Val Fleuri was founded by Dr. Préaut, a physician, and Mr. Prat, the father of a man with intellectual disabilities. The vision these men had of disabilities was in strict contrast to that of the institutions where people with intellectual disabilities were still living in the 1960s. Jean visited Father Thomas twice at Trosly-Breuil. The second time, in 1964, Dr. Préaut had him visit a large institution near Paris. There, eighty men were living in a cruel and dismal environment. Jean was affected by the horror he saw but could nonetheless feel the presence of God. Trusting in Jesus, he decided to open a small home in Trosly-Breuil in August of that same year. A house was located, the administrative issues settled in cooperation with Dr. Préaut, and the three people who would live with Jean were chosen from among the eighty at the institution he had visited.