The initiative promoted by FOQUS Foundation, Consorzio Co.Re. and Associazione dei Quartieri Spagnoli, in collaboration with the City Administration,
with the support of Guber Banca
and the backing of Fondazione Etica
A 200sqm. apartment in the heart of Naples seized to Camorra will host Casa Comune, the
first co-housing project aimed at children with autism, which will offer them paths of autonomy,
opportunities for socialization, training and work.
The project is conceived and implemented by Foqus-Fondazione Quartieri Spagnoli, Consorzio Co.Re. and Associazione Quartieri Spagnoli, joined in a temporary business association, to which the seized asset was assigned by the Municipality of Naples.
The project was presented at Palazzo San Giacomo, the Town Hall, during a press conference attended by the deputy mayor Laura Lieto (also councilor for City Planning), the councilors Luca Trapanese (Welfare) and Antonio De Iesu (Legality), FOQUS director Renato Quaglia, the director of the Argo Center Sarah Mancini, Giovanpaolo Gaudino for Co.Re. Consortium, Giovanni Laino for Associazione Quartieri Spagnoli, the CEO of Guber Banca Francesco Guarneri and the honorary president of the Fondazione Etica, Paola Caporossi.
The apartment assigned to the three entities is located in via del Formale, close to Piazza della Carità.
Two floors, plus a roof terrace, which will be completely renovated thanks to
an innovative social financing programme, promoted by Guber Banca, and with the support of the
the municipality of Naples.
The flat will host people from Argo, a day-care center for children, teenagers and adults with
cognitive disabilities, promoted by FOQUS in 2016. Casa Comune represents the natural
evolution of the Argo experience: in the new premises, the guests, followed by qualified operators
will be able to experiment forms of progressive autonomy from their family context and a
gradual introduction into a work environment. Then, an autonomous life experience that will also take
a working dimension, as the young guests will be protagonists of a project of production
of chocolate bars and confectionery.
The boys will also be involved in the welcome that will be held in the house on weekends. Indeed
the project also provides for the offer of welcome weekends for social workers from other cities, which
they will be able to take guided tours of the Solidarity Naples and the most significant realities of the Third sector engaged in Naples. The solidarity tourism proposal will make it possible to promote itineraries in the city society and a different use of its cultural heritage.
This development of the project will be overseen above all by the Consorzio Co.Re. and by the Association
Spanish Quarters. The structure will thus be able to accommodate women in difficulty for short periods.
To start all the activities foreseen in the project, it will be necessary to carry out important works of
renovation of the property, which is in a state of profound abandonment. The opening of the construction site is
expected in March. The renovations and re-functionalization of the house are
entrusted, on a project by Eng. Giuseppe Lombardi, to the Bono Engineering Society
srl and Aeffe & Partner srl, which will also participate in the project with their own specifications
contribution.
The method of financing the project was innovative: in February 2022, Guber Banca, bank
private company based in Brescia, has launched, on the initiative of Fondazione Etica and Fondazione Foqus, its
first time deposit account dedicated to an innovation project with a social impact.
Taking a cue from the "solidarity bonds" introduced by law 106 of 2016, Guber Banca has
decided to offer private savers the possibility of opening an 18-month term account, whose
remuneration is double: on the one hand, an interest rate recognized to the customer, on the other, the
concrete contribution to the realization of the Neapolitan project.
In addition to the interest accrued by the individual customer on the deposit account, Guber Banca undertakes to
pay an additional 0.50% annually of the sums tied up for the construction of the Common House a
Naples, receiving a large participation of its customers in the project.
The participation of Guber, a challenger bank with a Brescian DNA, takes on particular significance
a social initiative born in the heart of popular Naples, among the most disadvantaged areas of the city,
characterized by a very high population density and worrying rates of unemployment, crime and
school dropout. A gesture that outlines an ideal North-South bridge in the sign of solidarity and
of sustainability.
The initiative also makes use of the experience and support of Fondazione Etica, which has been involved for some time
in the valorisation of savings in social impact programmes.
The Casa Comune project therefore represents a further step towards the systematization of a
new way of social financing.
