After nearly five years of renovation work on a building loaned to us by our municipality, and after countless economic sacrifices and steady effort by some of us to develop a project worthy of recognition from public institutions—the Lombardy Region, the Province of Como, the Consortium of Municipalities in our district—Dario's House has finally opened its doors. The house is named in memory of our beloved and unforgettable Don Dario Madaschispiritual assistant to Fede e Luce Italia in the early 1980s , and it now provides housing for people who have lost the support of their biological families.
The obstacles we faced were immense. The bureaucratic hurdles seemed endless. At first, the path looked impossible—winding, steep, endless. How many times we nearly gave up. But then some invisible hand would lift us from despair and set us back on course.
Perhaps that hand belonged to our special children, reminding us again and again why we were doing this work—preparing for the "After Us."
We began with a project written by us parents and some friends, later refined by professional consultants in the field. They guided us through the first steps toward the institutions that would eventually provide partial funding and allow us to begin restoration.
The project centers on a residential community for ten people, plus protected apartments—satellites of the main house—where people with milder disabilities and sufficient independence can live on their own.
The community's technical and scientific staff oversee both the main residence and the satellite apartments.
When we submitted our funding request, we were fortunate. The Lombardy Region responded with a subsidized loan. The Cariplo Foundation granted us significant financing. The Province of Como supported us, as did the Triangolo Lariano Mountain Community, the Enel Cuore Foundation, several local banks, and many, many friends who gave what they could.
Today the community stands as something of a privilege for our region. We are now selecting staff and residents through a specialized assessment process.
In recent months, our association, together with Solare—a network of local organizations—has also established a fund at the Cariplo Comasca Foundation called "FONDO DOMUS." Its purpose is to attract donations and bequests from people, especially parents of people with disabilities, who wish to entrust their estates to a foundation that will guarantee the proper care of their loved ones in a protected setting managed by the associations themselves, even after the parents are gone.
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Carlo Maria Fornari, 2008
President, Arcobaleno Association–Ponte Lambro (COMO)