On April 3rd 2005 we celebrated . the inauguration of the Carro. Many of you already know, directly or by word of mouth, this small reality of welcome, sharing and hospitality born now almost 15 years ago from the inspiration and initiative of some young people. Among them Matteo and Ivana, still today, with their beautiful family, represent the originality, the consistency and the strength of that choice.
So why, after 15 years of history, are we talking about an "inauguration"?
We let a volunteer tell us about it — someone I had the pleasure of introducing to the Carro a few years ago and who now constitutes one of its "load-bearing pillars," as Matteo says; I am talking about Costanza (my wife).
Good morning Costanza, I know you are embarrassed about this interview but it is right that the new recruits step forward and take their responsibilities. To begin: why are we talking about an inauguration?
Because the Carro has decided to renew itself and grow by setting itself very ambitious projects, objectives and let us say even dreams. And this year we celebrated the fact that Stefano, Rita, Alberto and Carla have joined Mimmo, Sabina and the whole family of Matteo and Ivana and have gone to live permanently in that small, great reality that is the Carro and to form the first nucleus of the three family-homes that the project envisions.
Three family-homes! Help us understand better...
The project of our small, perhaps reckless, but courageous association is to reach precisely this objective: three distinct nuclei of family-homes to be able to welcome up to 18 young people with severe mental disabilities who no longer have their family of origin. Thanks to the "Francesco Gammarelli" foundation which offered the Carro the free loan of a plot of land on via Laurentina, we moved from via Portuense to via Strampelli where we have all the space to realise this dream.
And where are we on the journey of our life?
We are at the first stage. We managed to build, with the effort and help of many, the first two buildings of the future structure. Those that we "inaugurated" on April 3rd which made the move possible, as we were saying before, of the original nucleus of the Carro (Matteo, Ivana, Maria, Francesca, Anna, Mimmo and Sabina) and above all the four new people welcomed who have filled, in every sense, the first house. One of the panels we prepared for the inauguration is made with close-ups of all the "inhabitants" of the new little village of via Strampelli. Every face, every smile, every melancholy, every gaze are the founding stones of the Carro's project. Stefano's booming voice, Carla's sweetness but also her slowness, Rita's attentiveness to others and her bursts of nerves, Alberto's silences and his sudden smiles are the lanterns that guide our little "Carretto" on the road it has now been travelling for almost 15 years with joy and toil, enthusiasm and worry, but above all with great faith and the conviction of having a benevolent and protective gaze from above.
So the first house is open. And now?
And now...well, we go as always with rationality and recklessness arm in arm. The space to open the second house and above all the very strong desire to see other smiles, gazes, new faces enter this large family pushes us to accelerate. to move, to welcome, to say yes. But the responsibilities are very high, we have no intention whatsoever of saying yes and then realising we do not have the possibility of transforming this yes into what the Carro considers welcome. We must grow in strength, economic support, number of friends and volunteers: this is the challenge.
So there is great need for new energy, but what can be done to help the Carro?
I will answer with a list to be clearer.
- First of all there is the possibility of becoming members of the association, which needs to grow in number and in the support of its members, and to do so one simply needs to make a request to the contacts we include at the end of the interview.
- We need someone who can make available their professional skills as a community educator, home care assistant, or in any case as a person who wishes to carry out a profession in service of others and specifically of people with severe mental handicap. I was saying earlier that we must open two more family-homes and to be able to do so we must find people who at the professional and motivational level can look after the young people welcomed according to the community and family style that is characteristic of the Carro.
- There is need for anyone who has the time and the goodwill to be a friend of the association, which means going to visit the young people, participating in celebrations and moments of exchange, taking part in the various groups that try to enrich the life of the association by organising masses, initiatives, fundraising, moments of formation, communication tools such as the website or the leaflet. Everyone with their own time and their own gifts can help in whatever way they wish.
- Obviously there are the economic needs which are the most pressing in order to realise all our objectives, and all possible financing and self-taxation initiatives by members that have come to mind are now getting underway.
- Finally there are on the horizon two very beautiful new possibilities aimed at young people who wish to have a volunteering or formative internship experience. We have activated a civil service project together with Caritas which provides for the placement at the Carro of 4 young people up to 26 years of age for a period of 10 months. It is the opportunity for them to have a fine volunteering experience in service of others and for the Carro to have enthusiastic and available people who may have the time to help the project move forward. In addition, contacts have been initiated with the third university in order to include the Carro in the list of bodies at which it is possibl e to carry out an internship for students graduating in educational science.
As you can see there is much to be done and the possibilities for lending a hand are very many.
We, in our small way, have defined ourselves as the "spare wheels" of the Carro and we are trying to do what we can in our spare "scraps" of time, but there is room for many others who wish to share this "way of life" that Matteo and Ivana with their extended family show us by their example.
Filippo e Costanza Ascenzi, 2005
To find out more about Il Carro: www.ilcarro.org (the site is just starting out and needs your contributions) info@ilcarro.org 06-5069141