“My life changed after I got to know the project. I have never wanted to leave the streets, I have been homeless for most of my life. After I got to know the project, I wanted to find my own place, to have my own possessions ”. This is the testimony of Miguel, 41 years old, who after 33 years of living on the streets was rescued by Shalom’s Friend of the Poor project.
Like Miguel, several people have had their lives transformed. Service to the poor has always been present in the Shalom Catholic Community. In almost 40 years, the Community has been promoting actions aimed at restoring dignity, alleviating suffering and reintegrating people in situations of vulnerability and social risk into society.
To love, rescue and evangelize
During the Covid-19 pandemic, the Community created the Friend of the Poor project to assist people living on the streets. To serve them through a path of friendship, a friendship with the poor and their friendship with God was chosen as a response of love, rescue and evangelization.
From March to October 2020, 64,025 meals have been distributed, 4,549 hygiene services, 1,496 social orientations, 3,640 distributions of basic food baskets, 175 referrals to therapeutic communities and 517 health services.
The project will continue post-pandemic and service will be expanded and aligned with the St. Francis shelter which has been working for the homeless since the 2000s.
To be a Benefactor of Peace is to be a friend of the poor
The Benefactor of Peace is the channel of Divine Providence. Through a monthly donation, hundreds of men and women around the world help the Shalom Community to maintain its evangelization actions, such as the Friend of the Poor. Being a benefactor saves and transforms lives, just like Miguel’s. In addition to spreading the love of Christ to the ends of the earth.
If you’d like to donate by bank transfer, here are the Banca Prossima codes:
SHALOM CATHOLIC COMMUNITY
IBAN: IT93 S030 6909 6061 0000 0008 887
BIC/SWIFT: BCITITMM
CURRENT ACCOUNT: 100000008887
BANK: INTESA SANPAOLO
Translation: Gabriela Gois
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