CENTRO PAPA GIOVANNI XXIII - SOCIETA' COOPERATIVA SOCIALE

The cooperative Centro Papa Giovanni XXIII was founded in 1997 in Ancona on the initiative of the priest Don Giancarlo Sbarbati together with volunteers, with the aim of creating spaces for aggregation and animation for some disabled children in the neighborhood, thus responding to a real need of a part of the citizenship. In a short time an activity initially volunteered, grew and transformed. In 1997 the first Day Centre was founded, which immediately became one of the few services for families with disabled children. Now, the Day Centre organises and implements many activities to promote the development of its users' abilities and at the same time raise funds to support projects, but all this was not enough. A new request by the families of the disabled resounded strongly in our territory: "What would have happened to those children who could no longer be looked after by their families?" In 2005, a new service was launched to meet this need: the first Residential Community "Il Samaritano", which allowed to accommodate 8 disabled people without family references. To this first Residential Community, in 2010 another one is added: the "Don Paolo Paolucci", which hosts 9 disabled people without family references. In the cooperative there is a high level of democracy and our work is always guided by the needs and desires of people that we know directly. We try to be as inclusive as we can but we know that our work alone is not enough, that is why we have built a network with other local realities in order to foster inclusion for disabled people not only in our facilities but also outside. We have always invested in professional training and since 2011 we organize training courses systematically, which is an effective way to deal with the complexities of our sector. We know that it is not over yet, new challenges await us and with the help of those who support us, we are sure that we can improve and offer concrete answers to those who still need us. In general, we have 28 disabled people between 26 and 64 years old coming to the Day Centre and 8 or 9 disabled people for each Residential Community.