Social Housing for struggling women in Milan

New updates about our social housing project in Fondazione Tuendelee Onlus .

The ongoing Coronavirus emergency and related restrictions continue to affect our day-to-day project, putting us to the test.

Unfortunately, this second lockdown has still put a strain on all of us by also limiting the social relations that these children extremely need.
The educators, in fact, had to comply with the provisions by changing the educational activities that included group games or too much contact.

This pandemic stressed the fundamental importance for the psychological well-being of large and small social groups. Human contact, the sharing of emotions and experiences are not only irreplaceable stages of the growth of children, but continue to be the pivots of the inner evolution of adults themselves.

In September, however, the school started again in the presence of primary school and first grade, while it is still remote for older children.

The good news, however, does not end here, in fact our children and their mothers are all well and two children welcomed began to attend the educational center La Quercia started by about a month by Aleimar in collaboration with the social services of Pioltello.

It is a new territorial reality dedicated to children and young people who attend elementary and middle school and who live in contexts of family fragility.

La Quercia welcomes students in the afternoon, after school, for homework and for fun and recreational activities. To assist them, in addition to the educators of Aleimar, there is also the child protection team of Azienda Futura, in synergy with the city schools.

Finally we wanted to tell you that despite the difficulties of this period, we have also tried to live the magic of Christmas children, who like every year, could not wait to write the letters for Santa Claus.

The Coronavirus emergency has had and continues to have a very strong impact on the lives of children and adolescents, with the disruption of their daily lives and, in many cases, risks having negative effects even in the long term. At risk are especially the most vulnerable minors who live in the most disadvantaged contexts, exposed to the consequences of the economic crisis affecting their families and the increase in educational inequalities due to school leaving. Many students have been excluded from distance learning due to the absence of devices or stable internet connections, many have encountered problems in following the program exclusively behind a screen, generating gaps that if not filled as soon as possible could lead to irrecoverable damage to the training path of many students. Foreign and BES (special educational needs) students have suffered the worst consequences because, in need of support and targeted intervention that meets their physical, welfare and mental needs, they found themselves without a guide and a point of reference.

To face the difficulties of many families, Aleimar, together with his partner Tuendelee, has started a study support service for children and teenagers reported by the schools who needed weekly recovery and strengthening lessons in order not to be too far behind with the program. school. Support was also offered through the peer to peer methodology, i.e. between peers who, in the presence of an educator who acted as a facilitator of the interaction, helped each other in carrying out their homework. This technique has brought greater benefits, both in terms of the transmission of knowledge and in terms of relationships between peers. All the children welcomed in Tuendelee were followed daily by the operators and a room was set up in which to connect and follow the lessons online, in order to maintain relations with the school and with classmates.

The covid led to the blocking of many activities, but the Housing project did not stop! Between April and June, 6 mothers sent by the anti-violence centers were welcomed: the latter were guaranteed a dedicated apartment for about a month. Also in these last months, a welcoming process for 2 mothers and a single woman in co-homing began.

And among the many difficulties of this period there was also a beautiful glimmer of light: one of our hosts became a mother! Welcome baby!

During these days, because of the COVID-19 threat and the subsequent lockdown, housing activities have been concentrating in protecting guests - keeping social distances and activating the always precious networks of solidarity collaboration that try to satisfy the basic services - and in welcoming new people with old needs. In fact, in this period many women and mothers are facing difficult moments, either due to the loss of their precarious jobs, with no possibility of renewal, or to their problematic close relationships, that forced closure has made more fragile.

Currently, more than in the past, we are aware that everyone could find themselves fragile. Thus, the operators, in compliance with health rules and regulations, have welcomed women and babies in trouble, that come from a territory hugely affected by the COVID-19 threat: the Lombardy region.

To help women to protect them and their kids from covid, some volounteers are also preparing and distributing surgical masks, since it's very hard to find them.

On december 16th the Tuendelee house had the opportunity to share a lovely afternoon with some friends of a company which has long been one of our sponsors. All of their employees have once again opened the doors of their offices to give our children an afternoon of happiness, full of games and… bubbles!

This year, infact, waiting for the kids, the moms and our operators, there was Zelda, an amazing professional who teached our kids to play with simple things like water and soap, showing them how to make big bubbles as well as small ones, letting them also enter inside one and watch the world through that thin and fragile wall of water. The smiles, the huggs and also the small fights the kids had during all the show, allowed the moms to watch at the show with eyes full of wonder and, once in a while, free of the suffering and pain of their condition, eyes in which all the worries were replaced by the true joy and curiosity of watching their kids trying to make colorful bubbles.

But our sponsor generosity didn’t stop there. They also granted our kids their wishes, gifting each one of them the toys they asked for Christmas! You can’t immagine the joy on their faces, the warm smiles they showed us were the biggest gift we could ask for.

We wanna thank our sponsor and all of you, our amazing friends and supporters, with your donation, you really make the difference and help us welcome and support families which are struggling both economically and socially. Share our project page with your friends and family. Together we can give theese families the future they're  fighting for.

Dear friend,

Here’s some updates for you, regarding our social housing project in Fondazione Tuendelee Onlus.

In September, Tuendelee celebrated its first ten years! To make the occasion, the whole centre held an open house event. Kids running around, tasty Italian food, sensory path and workshops, and so many wonderful people!

But the highlight of the day were the testimonials coming from some of the families which took part of the social housing project in the past. How moving was to sense their gratitude and appreciation!

What else? Well… it’s been a period full of goodbyes at Tuendelee. One of our long-time family units has finally taken flight, leaving the nest! In fact, the parents achieved job stability, which gave the family self-sufficiency as well as the chance to find housing in an autonomous way.

Hence, we had to say goodbye to this wonderful family, which has been filling our rooms with joy, happines and warmness, straight from Africa.

Tuendelee is a very dynamic reality, and after this bittersweet farewell, the social housing project is already welcoming two new families. After rough sea and choppy waters, they have landed at Tuendelee, and we all look forward to welcome them and give them a chance for rebirth.

With a donation, you can make the difference and help us welcome and support families which are struggling both economically and socially. You can do it here. 

Links:

• https://www.globalgiving.org/projects/social-housing/