Recreational Pastoral Centre - A Community of Hugs

Recreational Pastoral Centre, a Community of Hugs

Diocesan Caritas of Lungro, Saint John Baptist’s Parish in Acquaformosa

It offers an accompanying service to promote community and social inclusion through recreational activitiesrecreational activities for children and young people with special educational needs.

Mission: The mission of the Recreational Pastoral Center “Una Comunità di abbracci”is to recover, maintain and develop the abilities of children and young people with disabilities, through activities of care, education, recreation, of learning the skills necessary for an independent life, school and vocational guidance; at the same time it will offer accompaniment to parents and guardians who have children, with support and counselling services.

Objectives: The Church shares with the family and with the school a fundamental educational role and attention to the minor and, therefore, if the first models of virtuous behaviour are structured within the family nucleus, it is then up to the Church, in parallel with the school, consolidate and protect them. The horizon is that of the consolidation of relations of proximity, so the following objectives are set:

Offer a training path that can promote the social integration of children/ young people with disabilities and their full realization.
Propose a socio-cultural and recreational support activity for children/ young people with disabilities, for families and volunteers in order to encourage encounter, discussion and dialogue between the social components.
Educate to civil coexistence and promote a harmonious development in the cultural growth of children/ young people with disabilities, in particular Christian education, health, affectivity, citizenship, without neglecting food, environmental and road.
Provide a service of accompaniment socio-educational at home for children/ young people with disabilities and a service of support and support to the family to which they belong.
Start a process to raise awareness of the problems of disabilities (autism, chronic disabling diseases, intellectual disabilities, mental illness, physical disabilities) to contribute and break down disinformation and indifference.
Be a presence of prayer and welcome. A sign of faith and truth available to anyone.

Activities and services :

The activities are carried out by a team of educators, adequately trained volunteers, assisted by a clinical pedagogist and with the active collaboration of parents. The activities are organized in a collective way, in small groups or individually, selected according to the needs presented by the various disabilities.

The meetings have a weekly schedule, the duration is about 90 minutes, during which there are several activities:

Activities of school accompaniment and activities of similar workshops (artistic and creative workshops, recreational workshops, audiovisual workshops, etc.)
Activities concerning a healthy daily lifestyle and for future social integration (self-knowledge and independence);
Social welfare services for children/young people with disabilities and families (social counselling, psychological assistance and support, guidance and support);
Home care service for beneficiaries of the centre who are physically unable to reach the facility;
Social awareness and community development activities through moments of aggregation (conferences, online meetings, street events, etc.)

Beneficiaries:

The focus is on children/young people with physical, sensory and psychological disabilities aged between 16 and 14, and their families.

Certainly an important reality for the whole Diocese of Lungro and for the surrounding area, which will follow the values of solidarity, transforming a place into a “church that welcomes” and decides to walk alongside the other, not “for” but “with”.

Where we are:

The Recreational Pastoral Centre “Una Comunità di abbracci” carries out its activities at the premises of the parish village of Acquaformosa. The internal environment is adequately equipped to offer all the services necessary for the education and implementation of the activities of aggregation of children/ young people with disabilities; this allows guests to experience new forms of everyday life different from the usual living places.

For more information and registration please contact:

DIOCESAN CARITAS OF LUNGRO

: (+39) 0981 786325