We are grateful to Sergio Sturlese and other friends from the Milan branch of the Fede e Luce movement who sent us this report on their visit to Rivarolo Canavese, near Turin. We hope that many other friends and readers will seek out initiatives like this one and explore the many facilities responding to such pressing needs. When you do, please share what you learn—so we can pass those discoveries on to others who may benefit or find inspiration to start similar programs of their own.
La Torre is organized into three small residential groups. Each group houses about ten people with moderate to severe intellectual disabilities, ranging in age from eighteen to fifty-one. Most come from the Turin province.
The local health authorities (USSL) typically identify candidates, and the community's leadership decides whether to accept residents based on their ability to participate in community life.
Each group has four educators, four care assistants, and one conscientious objector. ANFFAS manages the community. The health authorities cover residents' fees; in some cases, families contribute according to their income.
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The most innovative part of the documentation we received concerns a housing project for aging parents living alongside their disabled adult child—the "Complemento Project." It envisions thirty apartments designed for families in this situation. Families would purchase the right to live there. "When both parents die (or if they can no longer care for their child), the adult son or daughter would move into the residential community. This eases the trauma of separation from parents. The 'Dopo di noi' [After Us] Foundation would then provide care." "During the parents' lifetime, the disabled adult could use the community's facilities and attend the available day center."* * *
The report also gave us practical and administrative details about how the project works. We cannot elaborate further here, but anyone interested in this innovative proposal should contact Prof. Rosina Zandano at the ANFFAS Tigullio Ovest section: Salita Banchi, 20 - 16035 Rapallo (Ge) - tel. 0185/*******.