Always searching for communities, group homes, and centers to share with our readers, we decided to revisit the Chicco, a small community founded between the airport and the municipality of Ciampino in a farmhouse back in 1981.
From that first visit years ago—I can't quite remember if it was deep winter or late autumn—I came away with the impression of a little nativity scene set in the countryside. Guenda and Anne moved about happily, absorbed in caring for the first residents: Fabio, Maria, and Lucia, placed in their charge by Rome's municipal foundling home.
So much was different then. Group homes and residential communities barely existed as a concept. The Fede e Luce association had just begun, spreading Jean Vanier's message: his fresh answer to the ancient cry of the mentally disabled. Guenda and Anne heard that call. With the support and counsel of trusted friends, they modeled their new community on the L'Arche homes in France and founded the Chicco.
Today, after so many years, that small seed has grown and borne fruit. Alongside the original Chicco house, where three of the younger residents still live, two more homes have been built—la Vigna and l'Ulivo—housing three and four severely disabled adults respectively. Each house has its own director and staff, running autonomously. Two workshops have risen next to the homes: il Mulino and il Nido. In the first, residents work with clay and wood, perform theater, and develop control and independence in movement, and the ability to live and work alongside others. In the Nido workshop, multiply handicapped residents receive physical therapy and sensory stimulation. The residents also take turns horseback riding and swimming.
Fifteen assistants live in the homes or commit themselves full-time to work at the Chicco, four of them Italian.
They form the community's core, supported by civil service volunteers—there should be five, but only two are present now—and generous friends who volunteer in great numbers.
Luisa explains it all to us from her small, charming office (something of that old nativity feeling lingers). Luisa took over the community's direction only in 1997 after Guenda, and lived at L'Arche in Trosly for sixteen years. She confides that the transition wasn't difficult because the residents she left behind helped her accept the parting with their own calm acceptance. The structure of the L'Arche homes, the way of life there, stays the same everywhere—it makes one feel "at home" wherever in the world you are as part of the community. And once back in Italy, Luisa—from Como herself—was moved and helped settle in by the generosity of families around the Chicco in Ciampino. They are open, available to the residents, present in the community's life with their help—some iron clothes, some prepare Thursday's lunch—and with money, food, and clothing. All of it precious, Luisa reminds us, because "we live on the disability allowances of all our residents, the disability pensions of the adult disabled residents, and the generosity of friends". The Chicco is recognized and authorized to operate as a Group Home. La Vigna and l'Ulivo are authorized as rehabilitation centers for adults; the agreement with the municipality, which has been in process for some time, should come through soon.
Luisa now shares a small concern. Alongside the great generosity of the neighbors and the occasional availability of so many volunteers, what's missing are people willing to commit themselves full-time as assistants within the community for a period no shorter than six months.
These assistants, the core caregivers, are truly precious and indispensable. The fact that only four of the fifteen are Italian creates a certain imbalance.
As evening falls over the fields around us and lights come on at la Vigna and l'Ulivo, Luisa describes the community's spiritual life. Its most important moments happen in the Chicco's chapel on Monday evenings during adoration, and at Mass on Wednesday and Friday. The residents also participate deeply in parish life, attending Sunday Mass with their assistants, and Armando, Fabio, and Maria received their Confirmation there.
The sound of car engines. Doors open. Maria, Fabio, Giorgio, and the others have returned from shopping. In the kitchen they unwrap bags and packages for dinner. We step out of the small office and are nearly swept up in their embraces.
- Tea Cabras, 1998
Our Great Friends. We visited them at the Chicco
Photos by Guenda
The Chicco is a group home born in Italy from the heart of Jean Vanier's L'Arche