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"Home is the place where,
when you have to go there,
They have to take you in."
Casa La Rocca is that building there.
Casa La Rocca is a home.
We call it home hotel.
It's a new type of residential services
for everyone: immigrants
asylum seekers and refugees
but also vulnerable Italian citizens.
Immigrants work the land
they care for our loved ones
with us,
they are essential for our economy
but they often live
in unacceptable housing conditions,
in overcrowded and old houses.
It is difficult to find a place to stay.
When you come from abroad
you need a place to sleep.
Sometimes you’ll find a place
but there will be no furniture, no beds…
So this is overall a very good idea.
I usually come here in the summer to work.
I live abroad, I live in Morocco
because my husband is Moroccan.
I don’t spend here the whole year
and this is why I can’t find a job.
I came here earlier this year
and I work at the beach.
The place is beautiful.
There’s a beautiful view from the balcony,
there’s a lot of air.
Most people think
immigrants should be happy
with whatever you give them
or that the important thing is that you offer them something,
it doesn't matter if it’s something of quality.
We think differently. We offer them a cozy place
and we take care of every detail.
We believe that the only way
to recognize an immigrant's dignity is
to simply recognize that dignity.
We don’t give them any less that
what we would find comfortable ourselves.
Casa La Rocca is a place where we all could live
where staying is a pleasure.
We think about organising the future.
And in this week
we choose a day
to speak about work
another day to speak about Italian law
and the life in Italy.
This is for you.
This is your room.
This is for you.
Casa La Rocca is a shelter
it's a place to welcome people
to help them avoid falling into despair,
unable to get up again.
Casa La Rocca is
a new multidimensional way
to welcome immigrants.
It’s not just a physical space for emergency living,
It’s also a new experience
made of services.
You have to come here more often
not just to renew your residence permit.
I know you are autonomous, but still…
This is for one year
and you can change.
Yours is for three years
and you can’t change it.
Political asylum is for five years.
For ever.
Cidis Onlus provides
information and guidance
to help the house’s guests
with their paperwork.
It also guarantees a “housing” service
for those who want
to find accommodation in our area.
Our operators find the right places
according to the needs and economic possibilities
of those families.
Moreover
we give information and support
on the use of our public services
like our national health system,
schools
and language schools for adults.
So, we offer multi-dimensional hospitality
that leads our guests
towards autonomy and inclusion
in our social context.
This is a downtown house
and like many others in this area
it used to be abandoned.
Do you know what it means for a small town
to have abandoned houses?
It means there’s a problem.
We solved that problem
relocating immigrants and showing to the people
that things can change
and that immigration is
a very important resource for us.
We don’t pay anything for our house
because we bought it.
Under this point of view
you’re the first family
to take such a big step in this area.
My compliments
for your courage too!
In addition to our ordinary services
Cidis Onlus wanted
to focus on our “mobile office”
which is a service we provide
for the people who can’t reach
our office downtown
mainly for agricultural workers.
Casa La Rocca makes the contact
between foreigners
and native people easier.
They become neighbors
and if initially there was some distrust
now we notice more common gatherings.
It often happens
that a neighbor knocks our door
to ask for help
with the grocery or to move its furniture.
There are always more shared moments.
The old city center is dying.
Foreigners are giving new life to it.
There’re more people around.
We were very isolated.
We were born here,
and now we are the only ones left.
La Rocca was fully abandoned
but now it is better that it used to be.
I am very happy with that change happened
with those foreigners.
In my opinion, we need more!
They’re very polite
always saying good morning
or good evening to us.
"Casa La Rocca Project" is going great in my opinion.
They help those foreigners, it's ok,
but we need them, too.
We need to help our young people.
Did you see the woman with the twins?
They’re very good people.
This exceptional project
was made possible
by an unexpected synergy of people:
the diocesan administration gave us the building,
the Coldiretti (Association of Agricolturists)
and the City of Cassano
really believed in the project
and helped Cidis Onlus
to keep it going.
This Project was very positive
for our territory
and for the old center of our town.
At the beginning
we involved some young local people
to take care of the immigration issue
and they did it in a very professional manner.
Around them
we built a real network of solidarity
involving the nearby citizens.
The result is the requalification of this building
and the active involvement of our citizens,
who were very sympathetic and understanding.
That result has been great for our own town.
Honestly, this is not
the first or the last
of this kind of initiative
in our city,
but everything we’re realizing now
turns around Casa La Rocca,
which has the double value
of recovering an old abandoned building
and repopulate the old city center.
With the House’s managers we have a very good relationship,
we are friends,
because we share the same social mission.
The guests are required to take part
in the activities of the house.
First of all
we ask for a small daily contribution
based on what they can afford,
a daily little contribution,
to make them feel
like they are part of the house.
It is necessary that they respect a set of rules,
that they take care of the furniture
and maintain the house’s decor and beauty.
It’s a way to take part of common life
without becoming stable guests:
it is in fact impossible to stay in the House for more than 6 months.
We’re here to help them in a moment of difficulty.
Casa La Rocca is a very sustainable
and forward-looking project,
but it needs to be financially supported.
It is fundamental to move
beyond emergency response,
which is often very expensive and inefficient,
and start adopting smart integration
and long-term citizenship policies
to improve the lives of everyone.
Casa La Rocca could be a starting point.
"Your house is your larger body.
It grows in the sun
and sleeps in the stillness of the night
and it is not dreamless."
Casa La Rocca is still open thanks to the commitment
of Cidis Onlus, a non-profit association
working for more than 20 years for the integration of immigrants.