It was expected for years, now it’s a reality. The new «Maria Zanoni Cavallaro» service center at Villaggio Violino, financed by the Casa di Dio Foundation with a cost of around 5 million euros, was inaugurated yesterday after around a year and a half of work, the culmination of a synergistic path between the Foundation , the Municipality of Brescia and the adjacent parish of San Giuseppe Lavoratore, with the Diocese, started in 2016.
The new center
It’s a structure L-shaped on two floors, built from scratch in via Violino di sopra 115 by the Girelli company from Roncadelle, based on a design by the Arpini architecture studio from Montichiari. Approximately 3,700 square meters in total including garden (with playground) and reserved parking, while the two floors of the building, a true multi-purpose centre, are just under 1,800 square metres. There are seven homes for the elderlythree two-room apartments on the ground floor and four on the first floor, two of which are doubles, for a total of 9 places.
Also on the upper floor there is a Social housing community for the elderly, 12 guests will live in 11 rooms. Here the elderly will be able to take advantage of shared spaces and the help of the facility’s staff, some of whom are present 24 hours a day. Managed by Casa di Dio, they are all already booked and will come into operation on June 3rd. The center of the association is housed on the ground floor Violin Volunteers, a service for children from zero to three years of age, active since September, medical offices and a blood sampling point managed by Poliambulance. A formula for a day center for the elderly is also being planned with the involvement of the Foundation, the Municipality and the cooperative La Nuvola del Sacco.
«It is not a goal, but an important stage – said the president of the Casa di Dio Foundation Irene Marchina -. We still have a lot to do to fully utilize the potential of the structure and its strategic location. Work remains to be done on the day centre, which will have to host other realities.”
The bishop of Brescia, Monsignor, also spoke at the inauguration of the Centre, named after a well-liked citizen of the neighborhood who passed away in 2021. Pierantonio Tremolada: «An intelligent project, expression of an ability to grasp the needs of the moment and respond to them adequately». For the mayor Laura Castelletti, «un innovative social modelreplicable in other neighborhoods of the city.”
