Rome (NEV / Riforma.it), February 28, 2019 – A new Community Centre was officially inaugurated in Naples, at the ACLI (Italian Union of Christian Workers) headquarters, promoted by Diaconia Valdese and Oxfam Italy, and financed by the Waldensian and Methodist ‘Eight per thousand’. The information desk will be serving migrants and Italian citizens in need.
As Thesie Mueller, pastor of the Vomero Waldensian and Methodist church, recalled in her welcoming message, the Community Centre is part of the evangelical social activity carried out on the territory for decades through the work of the Evangelical Bethany Hospital and the Centre “Casa Mia-Emilio Nitti” of Ponticelli.
The Community Centres national coordinator, Simone Alterisio, illustrated the activities of these gathering places, information desks and points of reference for a national network created by the collaboration between Diaconia Valdese and Oxfam Italia. The first one to be opened was in Catania on 2017, followed by the ones in Florence, Turin, Milan and Arezzo. The services provided are: orientation and follow-up for administrative papers; support in choosing the educational path; orientation to territorial services; work orientation; linguistic-cultural mediation; social activities.
Precious B. Odomankoma, an operator at the Naples branch, stressed that the Community Centre wants to be not only a physical location where people can receive help for their needs, but also a space for active listening and dialogue, a place to create relationships in a process of mutual recognition and growth for the acquisition of greater autonomy.
The Naples Community Centre will work in cooperation with all the social realities operating in the area and in particular with the Evangelical Bethany Hospital. Luciano Cirica, director of the Evangelical Hospital, explained that this collaboration will allow users, Italians and migrants, to have a first and direct access point to health care.
The Community Centre, located in via del Fiumicello 7, is open from Monday to Friday.
For information please contact: +39 345-3532510.
