A Place to Breathe
The Bambini e Autismo Foundation in Pordenone has opened Villa Respiro.
The Villa will serve as a residential space for weekends where people with autism, in small matched groups, can spend time away from their families in a welcoming environment designed with them in mind.
The facility has a dual purpose: to give family members a break, and to help people with autism learn to live away from home for short periods, developing the social and life skills they'll need in the future.
The villa looks like a house, complete with bedrooms, a living room, kitchen, and a garden. Downstairs there's a small gym, a mosaic workshop, a computer lab, and a painting studio. Outside, there's a garden with plants, play equipment, and a covered vegetable garden built by the National Alpine Association.
Groups will rotate through on weekends, no more than four or five people at a time, plus staff.
Built on Partnership
Formello, near Rome, has opened the first Day Center for Social and Rehabilitative Care serving the entire northern area of Rome Province.
The Center exists thanks to collaboration between Vitalba, a volunteer association for people with disabilities (founded in Formello in 1998 by a group of parents), and the municipalities of Formello, Campagnano, Sacrofano, Magliano Romano, and Mazzano Romano, along with the local health authority and the Lazio region.
Since October 15, young people attend Monday through Friday from 2:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Through workshops, activities focused on self-care and personal development, and outings into the community, the young people will build their capacity for growth, social inclusion, and participation.
Vitalba is already working toward opening two more centers in the Flaminia and Tiberina areas and planning a residential community. Remarkable work by the Vitalba parents and their supporters—living proof of what happens "when parents take action." We look forward to hearing about their next ventures!
Vitalba - Volunteer Association for People with Disabilities, c/o Roberto Sisto - Via Monte Madonna, 12 - 00060 Formello (RM) Tel./Fax: 06.9088386, E-mail: info@vitalba.it
Website: vitalba.it