Temporary Adoption of Six Adults with Severe Disabilities Living in the Community of l’Arche

Project location: ITALY, Ciampino
Project start date: October 2017 - Project end date: August 2020
Project number: 2017-059
Beneficiary: Associazione Arca Comunità Il Chicco

This project supports several activities carried out by six persons with severe disabilities who live in the Community il Chicco. These activities include musical therapy, sensorial swimming pool, donkey assisted therapy, swimming pool, and proprioceptive rehabilitation, and are intended to improve personal awareness, capabilities, communication, relationship with the outer environment and the others.

This Community, which is part of the worldwide federation of l'Arche, is located in Ciampino, near Rome; 20 people with mental disabilities live in the community, in three houses, together with assistants and volunteers. The Community has also a day workshop, where the 20 people who live in the community, along with 10 other persons with
disabilities who live with their parents, carry out different activities (ceramics, gym, physical therapy, musical therapy, etc). Some of the activities are carried out outside of the Community workshop. Many activities require hiring specialized personnel, or travelling to external centers.

L'Arche wants to be a sign that a society, to be truly human, must be founded on welcome and respect for the weak and the downtrodden. In a divided world, L'Arche wants to be a sign of hope. This project is part of this effort and is carried out within this framework.

Six of the people living in the Community, (Armando, Fabio, Lucia, Maria, Paolo, and Silvia) are entrusted to the Legal Protection of the Community Leader, therefore the community means everything to them: family, friends, support. The Community is recognized as their social network and takes care of them in every aspect. The project is centered on these 6 persons, and aims at allowing them specific activities which are not currently supported.

In order to avoid creating inequalities, and in the awareness of the importance of these activities, the Community ensures the same possibilities to those who cannot afford the expense, by making expenditures not granted by the public authorities. Therefore, the objective of the project is to take full advantage of some specific activities for a period of 3 years, also for the six people who are in the legal protection provided by the Community Leader.

The different activities included in the project are specifically developed for each of the persons, and aim at different objectives, with respect to improving personal perceptions and abilities, and to facilitating relationships and communication. Music, movement in different environments, sensorial stimulation, and relations with animals in particular are the different means used in this project. The dfferent approaches are tailored to the different persons and address their specific needs.

This project received a grant from the Nando and Elsa Peretti Foundation.