New Spaces for the Homeless in the Sant’Egidio Community Shelter in Rome, Italy

Project location: Italy, Rome
Project start date: September 2011 - Project end date: September 2012
Project number: 2010-63
Beneficiary: Fondazione Turriziani

To look for a place where to sleep is crucial in the life of a person without stable residence. Unfortunately, the existing structures in Rome are not sufficient to accommodate all those people that are wandering in the city at night, especially during the winter season.

The project, which received a grant from the Nando Peretti Foundation,  aims to transform some rooms in the ground floor of an old roman palace, precisely Leopardi Palace located in Saint Mary in Trastevere Square in the Municipality of Rome given under the management of Saint Egidio Community in order to render it suitable to accommodate 12 homeless persons every night.

The shelter will be expanded though the renovation of some rooms in the ground floor where beds and bathrooms will be arranged to increase the numbers of the person accommodated during the night. Together with a room for a night watchman, a laundry room will be added. Included to the renovations are the centralized heating system and of course the interior decorations.

The Foundation Turriziani for new poverty in Italy is a non-profit organization that, according to the teachings of the Catholic Church, pursues social welfare and, through financial assistance, usually in the form of contributions to the costs, establishing scholarships and promoting voluntary in Italy.

The beneficiaries of the Foundation's activities are needy people in precarious economic conditions, infirm, disabled, drug addicts, people with serious adverse events and in situations similar to the discomfort, with particular attention to children and the elderly. The Foundation supports three Care Homes: Care Home of Tor Bella Monaca (in Rome); Care Home of Librino (in Catania); Care Home of Ferentino (in Frosinone), as well as a Socio-Educational Center of the Salesian Sisters of Santa Maria Ausiliatrice in Rome. The Foundation also realized a Reception House near the Pediatric Hospital Pousillipon - Santobono in Naples for the poor parents of children who lay in the hospital.