Europe · Italy

S. Maria delle Grazie House

Topics: Fighting poverty

Where:

Voghera

Target audience:

Adults in social or economic difficulties

Who is following the project?

Brother Krzysztof Paszkiewicz

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Background

For centuries, the Franciscan community in Voghera has been a point of reference for the faithful and the local community, always guaranteeing help to those who knock on the convent’s doors.
Over the years, more and more people and families are turning to the Franciscan friars because they are without a place to stay because they are unable to meet the cost of housing, even temporary housing, due to the economic crisis and growing poverty in Italy.

A solidarity project in the sign of Our Lady of Grace

In 2020, the friars of Voghera decided to restore the old wing of the convent, which had been abandoned for sixty years, to make it a home that could respond to a plurality of social urgencies spread throughout the area.

In the new St. Mary of Grace Home, the friars offer welcome, listening and the help that allows adults in economic or social difficulty to overcome a problematic phase they are going through.

The Franciscan community of Voghera will offer welcome to those who have family members hospitalized in area hospitals, evicted families waiting to find a new home, separated fathers who cannot afford a home, and those who have a father, husband or son in prison to visit and come from afar.

Supporting Santa Maria delle Grazie today

The Fondazione OFM Fraternitas, thanks to the extraordinary generosity of its donors, supported the first phase of the building’s renovation.

Today the friars are calling for making the facility and the services it offers to the community more effective.

The next phase of renovation will include the removal of architectural barriers, the construction of the perimeter wall that delimits the property, the reclamation of spaces used for storage, and the creation of an outdoor space with games for children.

Casa Santa Maria delle Grazie is becoming increasingly accredited as a point of reference for all people in need. To support its operation, the friars also ask to contribute to the necessary costs for the distribution of food parcels for families in economic difficulty, a service they perform throughout the year.