Community Foundations are aggregators of resources, like a body of water which – as a player in a virtuous circle – catalyzes resources from the community and then uses them for the community itself and its needs, to take care of them. For this purpose, solidarity funds are among the tools available to the Foundations. The peculiarity of these funds is the restriction of destination set by the donor. The resources of each fund are used in activities and projects with solidarity purposes that correspond to the destination desired by the donor.
Among the solidarity funds set up at the Community Foundation of Agrigento and Trapani there is the Solima Fund, set up by the “Comunità delle Missionarie Secolari Scalabriniane” of Agrigento, with which the Community Foundation collaborates in managing the fund.
The Solima Fund has two main purposes: to launch initiatives that promote social cohesion and peace – with particular attention to cultural diversity and intercultural training – , and to support the activities carried out within the Solima Project.
The project area is the city of Agrigento and its province – the landing point for many migrants who arrive in Italy -. It is promoted by the “Comunità delle Missionarie Secolari Scalabriniane” together with the Migrant Service of the Archdiocese of Agrigento and the Majorini Law Firm. Within the Solima Project was launched the Legal and social help desk for migrants. The socio-legal service was inaugurated in November 2019 and is still active.
The Solima team that manages the branch is made up of professionals and students from the legal area and social workers. And this is precisely the peculiarity and strength of the service: to make the legal and social areas work together, differentiating themselves from listening desks already active in the regional territory and efficient.
The Solima Project therefore responds to the legal and bureaucratic problems encountered by migrants: difficulties in accessing the health system, school or other public services, problems related to the issue of residence documents, etc. Therefore the help desk aims to be a place for information, guidance and advice.
For more information or to access the service, you can contact the telephone number +39 379 123 5317 or the email solima.ag@gmail.com
The Solima Fund was set up thanks to a donation from the Hoffman Brothers Foundation (USA) through the Scalabrini International Migration Network.
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If the project and its goals are important to you, you can support it with a free donation to the Solima Fund at the Community Foundation current account. You can send us a bank transfer to these data:
Made out to: Fondazione Comunitaria di Agrigento e Trapani
Bank: Banca Popolare Etica, Filiale di Palermo
IBAN: IT55 E050 1804 6000 0001 6792855
Reason for payment: Fondo Solima