The atmosphere. If there is one thing I will remember from this beautiful day, it is the serene, joyful, genuinely festive atmosphere that surrounded all of us. The occasion was special: the inauguration of the new building at Casa Loïc, the first real home, built near two small wooden structures where all the work had been carried out until now. (An artisanal workshop project.)
The new house, nestled in the rolling hills of Capena along the Via Tiberina, is surrounded as far as the eye can see by green meadows.
The clear sky, worthy of the finest occasions, did the rest, and that Sunday, February 13th, turned out to be a true success.
But let me go back to the beginning. I had been pleased and surprised to receive an invitation to the inauguration, because I knew the Loïc Francis Lee association only by name and had never had direct contact with it.
I went gladly, interested also for il Carro — the residential community whose cooperative I serve as vice president — to learn about other initiatives working in the same field.
The inauguration celebration was an occasion to thank all the friends and supporters of the association who had contributed to the creation of the house, whether materially, spiritually, or through their labor.
After a tour of the house, designed and finished with great care so as to feel warm and welcoming, an original quartet entertained us for about fifteen minutes with beautiful baroque music and a very timely message: three young disabled boys played three instruments with decidedly impressive skill, both individually and together, the result of determination and dedication over many years.
But the heart of the celebration came next: the president, two doctors, and the director of Casa Loïc explained to us the history, the goals, the meaning, and the substance of their work, rooted in the socio-therapeutic principles of Steiner.
They spoke in deliberately secular language, yet with extraordinary passion, and conveyed a profound sense of spirituality—not necessarily religious—that underlies their thinking and their practice.
The way they spoke about the young people, the respect they showed them, the way they treated them, reminded me very much of what we hope to live in our Faith and Light gatherings and in our relationships with the young people in our communities. More broadly, what struck me was that many initiatives like Casa Loïc, Faith and Light, il Carro, and others express in different ways a shared fundamental conviction: respect for and recognition of the mentally handicapped person as a privileged voice for our own spiritual and relational growth. Moreover, this same respect for the dignity of the suffering person must be guaranteed to the rejected, the marginalized of every kind, whom today's society produces in ever greater numbers. The moving testimony brought by inmates from the Pistoia prison, who organized a collection for Casa Loïc while inside the prison, was emblematic in this regard. A letter from one inmate was read aloud—the only one who was granted permission to attend the celebration—and it touched the deepest part of each of us.
As I was leaving, after refreshments, the scent in the air seemed more intense. "It doesn't matter," I told myself, "that the region threw obstacles in the way of this initiative, as usual; it doesn't matter either that the prison administration failed to understand, or chose not to understand, the significance of this occasion. I'm leaving with a clear, pleasant, restful sense of hope."
- Antonio Mazzarotto, 1994
Photo Gallery: Activities at Casa Loïc
Casa Loïc: At a Glance
The house welcomes 11 young people between the ages of 12 and 21.
• They are people with mental handicaps or personality disorders, but with a certain degree of autonomy (they walk, eat, and use the bathroom independently).
• All come from Capena or Rome.
• There are 5 staff members, trained according to the pedagogical principles of Rudolf Steiner.
• Casa Loïc receives no public funding. Parents contribute according to their means. The basic monthly contribution is 700,000 lire.
• Hours: departure by minibus from Piazzale Flaminio at 8 a.m. and return at 4 p.m. Time spent at Casa Loïc is between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.
• The newly inaugurated building will allow the house to welcome new residents.
Daily Schedule:
Morning Part I:
- schoolwork (for those who can still benefit from it)
- manual work (for others)
Morning Part II: Manual work for all:
- weaving
- woodworking
- candle-making
- outdoor work: gardening and farming
- meal preparation
1 p.m.: LUNCH
Afternoon: artistic activities:
- painting
- music
- theater
- singing
- eurythmy (specialized movement)
- Editorial Staff, 1994
Learn more: associazioneloic.org