The Project
The Project
On 18th April 2015, the largest maritime disaster since World War II took place in the waters of the Mediterranean Sea, in which it is estimated that over 1,000 people lost their lives. 676 bodies were recovered, and two-thirds of the shipwrecked were young adults aged between 20 and 30, with one-third being minors between the ages of 15 and 17.
Ahead of this tragedy, our churches felt the duty to increase their commitment to support immigrants, identifying the most vulnerable group in unaccompanied foreign minors who arrived in Italy as newly legal adults and young people alone, as they receive the least institutional support.
Even then, the reception system often lacked attention to the psychological needs of traumatized individuals, the necessary literacy programs, job training, and guidance, as well as preparation for active citizenship.
Today, with the new immigration law, the condition of immigrants is increasingly precarious, and integration pathways are being dismantled. Upon reaching legal adulthood, many young individuals no longer have the right to reside in institutional facilities, effectively being left to fend for themselves without having received the necessary tools to support themselves.
This project is a collaboration between the three Protestant churches in the central Catania area:
Baptist Christian Evangelical Church of Catania
Evangelical Lutheran Community of Sicily
Waldensian Evangelical Church of Catania