Associazione Volontarius Onlus

Volontarius principally operates in the following fields:

1. Refugee Centre for people requesting asylum:
The association Volontarius, through, the management of the Refugee Centre, tries to give an answer, in transitory terms, to the needs of shelter of humanitarian character present on the municipality and tries to satisfy, as fast as possible, the primary survival needs of refugees of male and female genders, both adults and minors, for the most part devoid of sources of support and coming from situations of social marginalization. The service is destined for refugees in wait of the recognition of their status of refugee, sent by the Service of Refugee Consultancy and by the Police Office.

2. Centre of First Hosting for Solitary Foreign Minors: is addressed to 13 non-accompanied foreign minors of both sexes and in emergency situations. The Centre wants to give a fast response to emergency situations characterized by an immediate and temporary need for maintenance and protection. The Centre is connected to all provincial authorities in order to allow, after the emergency answer, that each case be addressed in an individual way, as to ensure a stable social insertion. The stay of the guests at the centre should be limited to the time necessary to adjust the case and to find the appropriate solutions, and should never be greater than the time of reply of the ministry authorities regarding their decision over the stay of the minor in Italy.

3. Centre of "Cold" Emergency for homeless, open in the winter period from 20.00 to 8.00: the centre is active during the winter period, more specifically during a period considered to be very cold and only during the schedule 20.00-8.00, in order to give an answer to homeless people of male gender that do not find lodging in the already existing structures. The activities of the service personnel, volunteers and employees, foresees hosting and distribution of material necessary for an overnight stay and for personal hygiene. Once these needs are satisfied, operators try to serve as listeners and to represent a point of reference for the guests. The service aims to satisfy urgent needs, but most of all aims to bring serenity and to create situations of ease.
As mentioned above, the centre was started in order to offer hospitality and temporary assistance (consisting in night and day lodging, services for personal hygiene, supply of food and medical, psychological and legal support) to homeless people, both locals and migrants (including those who are not in possession of a valid residence permit or identification document), in particular those in situations of socio-health crisis (state of convalescence, expectance of medical recovery, non self-sufficiency, chronic patients and other particular situations) for the most part deprived of sources of support and in situations of social marginalization.
The structure has been equipped to try to provide the feel of a home. Through animation activities and socialization moments, we try to create the most serene environment possible.

4. Projects besides the voluntary service, for the support of local and international volunteers that work in our organization and for the promotion of the culture of solidarity
The project wishes to answer the needs of the volunteers, because through a "global volunteer service", they acquire a harmonic growth and an opening towards solidarity. It also wishes to answer the requests of politico-administrative authorities and of the social world, in the individualization that the voluntary service in the field of social services is of great relevance for multiple aspects. That is, above all, the expression of a noteworthy social engagement and of a solidary attitude towards people in need of help and therefore represents an exemplary behaviour that is based on ideals of equality and democracy. The voluntary service consolidates the principle that the activities towards socially disadvantaged people do not only regard professionals but rather all members of society".

5. Project "DiversaMente Insieme" ("differently together"/"different mind together") in which operators and volunteers try to use art as a tool to enter in relation with people in situations of unease
The project "DiversaMente Insieme" seeks to use creativity as a tool to install deep relations with people in situations of unease. Creativity, through artistic applications at various levels, often facilitates a spontaneous language which is bearer of deep messages. Facing these, the Project, through active listening, aims to guarantee the principle of free expression, placing itself in a welcoming, and never judging, attitude. The enactment of many creative activities, matched to the capacities of the operators to empathise with the individuals, allows the development of important operations that also bring them to specific individual paths.
In general lines, the project has determined two macro areas within which to work, these consist in the mobile laboratory (in places and spaces of other projects) and in the expressive atelier.

6. Project "Besides the Road", within which operators and volunteers, through the use of a mobile unit and of an itinerant unit, meet homeless people. Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 19.30 onwards, a group of volunteers (on average 6 people) coordinated by a responsible person offers aid, in an appropriately equipped camper at the gardens of the Bolzano train station. The aim of the service is to reach, understand and support marginalized people, offering to them a contact with society through a friendly and respectful approach. The activity, started in October 1998, has become a point of fix reference for those social groups, who are normally found in the central areas of the city, mainly in the evenings.
During the evenings, food, drinks, emergency garments and blankets are distributed. These tools allow us to clasp the target persons and to therefore start a natural relation with them, helping the operators in shift to put themselves in a position of "listening" and in a climate of trust and availability, which are the main goals of the service. This creates the premises for the proposal of a path of support and recovery. Indeed, in this stage of listening specific, requests for help normally emerge, which can lead to a subsequent stage of support.