Restoration of a Building for the Reception and Housing of  Sick Children in Rome

Project location: Italy, Rome
Project start date: October 2014 - Project end date: October 2015
Project number: 2014-024
Beneficiary: Fondazione Padre Bellincampi Onlus

The primary objective of this project was to rehabilitate and restore a structure that the Comune di Roma has awarded to the Fondazione Padre Bellincampi onlus to be used for the reception of severely ill children from all over the world.

One of the principal aims of the Fondazione Bellimcampi in fact is to assist the Associazione Kim Onlus that, since 1997, has been receiving and accommodating, totally free of charge, seriously ill children who, from all over the world, come to Rome with their mothers to be cured in several hospitals.

At the beginning of the 2000's the growing requests of accomodation made it necessary to build a Home that could correspond to the new exigencies.

In 2004 the Fondazione succeded in obtaining from the Comune di Roma the allocation of two buildings in bad disrepair situated in Parco di Bellosguardo ( zone Aurelio).

After a total reconstruction made possible thanks to the crucial help of many private donors, in May 2006 it was possible to open the CENTRO BELLINCAMPI-CASA DI KIM, that was handed over to the Associazione Kim Onlus for the pursuit of their objectives. The Casa di Kim can accommodate 12 children and their mothers. Since that date more than 180 children coming from more than 50 countries have been received in the Centro.

The Casa di Kim is still working at full steam and, thanks to an agreement with the Ministero della Salute and UNRWA, the Centro will be able to receive many children coming from the mediterranean countries, in particular Syria and Palestine. Very sick children, but also wounded and mutilated by the still raging war in those areas. This important new opportunity to relieve and mitigate at least in part the sufferings of so many minors, has created the need to augment the capacity of the structure.

Therefore the Fondazione Bellimcampi asked the Comune di Roma for a portion of a building also situated in the Parco di Bellosguardo and facing the other two buildings allotted to the Fondazione.

This building, too , was in a state of disrepair and needed heavy restructuring works.

In particular, thanks to the Nando Peretti Foundation, the external fixtures have now been restaured and, once the thermal plant, hydro-sanitary plumbing and electrical plant have been connected, all the exterior facades have been painted over. Also the restructuring of the external parts of the building have been ultimated by December 2014.

What remains to be done is the restructuring of the apartment allotted to the Fondazione which, once completed, will increase the hosting capacity by about 50%. To achieve this aim the Fondazione Bellincampi Onlus has started a fund raising campaign.