The house in Carducci Street was a project that started on January 8, 2018. It was aimed at particularly vulnerable refugees who had no roof over their heads and had to make do without the necessities of life, although the law provides for special protection and priority intervention for them. In the house in Carducci Street, with a total of 23 places, asylum seekers and single women in need of protection could stay for 3-5 days. This allowed them to rest and have the necessary discussions with the institutions that decide on their accommodation.

At the same time, the “Dritte Aufnahme” (terza accoglienza) project took place. Here, 4-5 of the places in the house were allocated to people with international protection status for a maximum of three months, as they had to leave their host structure due to this status. The refuge then provided them with support in finding work and accommodation.

The building in Via Carducci remained unoccupied for years before we used it. Both the “green” next to the main entrance and the beautiful inner garden were in a state of obvious abandonment. The “Scuola professionale provinciale per la frutti-viticoltura ed il giardinaggio” of Laives responded immediately to the request for advice on restoration. The teacher Emanuele Grandis and his students redesigned the garden. The garden, as a green oasis, became an important meeting place and guests enjoyed it to the full.

Unfortunately, the project of the house in Carducci Street had to end on March 15, 2019. It was planned as a temporary project and the house was only available to us as an advice center and headquarters until the end of the year.

As we have always addressed the needs of refugees staying in the province of Bolzano, another need emerged shortly after the opening of the house: Sick people who are accommodated in the emergency shelter (emergenza freddo), a sleeping facility that is not accessible during the day, and who have a certificate from the STP outpatient clinic (STP: Stranieri Temporaneamente Presenti sul territorio = Outpatient clinic for foreigners* who do not yet meet the necessary requirements for access to the national healthcare system). We offered accommodation for illnesses that are not serious but still require a recovery period (e.g. flu, various infections, etc.) for the time specified in the medical certificate. This resulted in an exemplary collaboration with volunteer doctors and the STP ambulatory. The doctors made themselves available to come to the Schutzhütte B1 Rifugio shelter within 24 hours of the people being admitted and examine them on site. While the people in need were with us, we informed those responsible for the “emergenza freddo” (emergency cold relief) so that they did not lose their actual place in the shelters. This allowed them to return to the emergency shelters after the recovery period prescribed by the doctors.