How is the non-profit world evolving? What are the opportunities in the third sector? What is the regulatory framework?
It is from these themes that a series of meetings organized by the Asti section of theKilled, the Christian Union of entrepreneurs and managers, hosted in the Via Isnardi headquarters of the Albergo Etico.
«The place was not chosen by chance – underlines Simone Solaro, president of Ucid Asti -. Albergo Etico represents an ideal case study on the subject of social enterprise: it is an example of how you can create a business that stands up connected to a decidedly high added value from a social point of view.”
The Albergo Etico project was born in 2006 to give Niccolò, a boy with Down Syndrome, the opportunity to complete an internship your training course at the Colline Astigiane hotel training center.
Niccolò, who is now 34 years old and is the maitre d’ at the Tacabanda restaurant in Asti, has become the symbol of a model of training and support for autonomy which over the years has involved over 300 young people, giving life to a broader project, the Independence Academy.
«It is a training and work path in the Ethical Hotel that lasts three years, the time necessary to achieve true autonomy – explains Alex Toselli, president of the cooperative since 2015 -. The expression “Academy of Independence” was chosen to make it clear how theAlbergo Etico is made up of people with different roles and tasks, in which a hierarchy exists and a respect for the superior figure is essential not only to learn to acquire one’s autonomy gradually, but also to avoid making mistakes”.
Thanks to an agreement with the Diocese of Asti, two years ago Albergo Etico found its new headquarters in via Isnardi, in the building that housed the Opera Pia Isnardi: 1,200 square meters distributed over three floors and surrounded by greenery.
It is here that the children hosted within the Accademia dell’Indipendenza live, currently 11 of them. «The intent – adds Toselli – is to encourage job placement and the autonomy of active citizens, by training the children and girls in a safe place, through a gradual path of coexistence and autonomy, learning to live with their peers and colleagues, self-managing and taking responsibility”.
Today Albergo Etico is present in Italy and abroad, with offices in Rome, Fénis, Cesenatico, Roccamonfina, Argentina, Australia, Bethlehem and Tirana.
The social promotion role of a reality like Albergo Etico and, more generally, of non-profit associations has been highlighted by Don Marco Andina, vicar general of the Diocese of Asti. «The objective is not to make economic profits, but to try to promote the common good, with particular attention to the different sectors of society – explains Don Andina -. An intent that falls within the objectives of the Ucid and which is well represented by the activity of the Albergo Etico”.
Objectives, but also opportunities and obligations, highlighted by the accountant Maurizio Marello, starting once again from Albergo Etico: «An example of social enterprise – he specifies –. One of the third sector bodies par excellence.”
The task of illustrating some guidelines of the third sector code was entrusted to notary Maurizio Cavanna, professor at the University of Turin and vice-president of Ucid Asti. Cavanna focused in particular on the rules regarding the establishment and incorporation of associations and foundations, on the technique of drafting their statute, on the need for third sector bodies to equip themselves with adequate organizational structures and on the responsibility of those who assume the responsibility administration.
