“It is with bitterness that we announce the conclusion of Spazio Donna’s activities”. Thus begins the laconic note with which the social cooperative Il Calabrone announced the closure of “Spazio Donna”, a WeWorld Onlus project launched in 2021.
WeWorld Onlus itself communicated to Calabrone the decision to close the project for reasons linked to their economic and organizational choices, effectively leaving Brescia orphaned of a space that over the years of work has welcomed and helped around 300 women.
If the need for work has often been the first reason for access for the majority of the over 300 women who have crossed the threshold of Spazio Donna, other needs that struggle to find space, swallowed up by fears and worries, have found a possibility of express themselves: the welcoming place and the relationship with the operators have allowed many of these women to also bring deeper experiences, giving voice to personal and relational needs that are often overlooked. The center was the scene of stories of rebirth and personal self-realization, where empathetic and competent support played a fundamental role in allowing women to undertake paths of change and growth.
However, Spazio Donna also offered other services such as financial management and digital literacy courses, legal and psychological consultancy, expressive and creative workshops, even with one’s sons and daughters, as well as wellness practices such as yoga, bioenergetics and mindfulness.
“We provided emotional but also operational support such as booking medical visits or managing children’s school enrollment – they said from Calabrone – We were a place of training and discussion, promoting awareness and discussion on cultural prejudices and stereotypes also thanks to book presentations, film screenings and debates. We have been a bridge to other services and organisations, networking and guaranteeing complete and integrated support”.
Now, however, Il Calabrone does not have the necessary resources to continue without the support of WeWorld. “We hope that this story will give rise to a collective reflection and a process of discussion that will lead to the construction of long-term policies and projects and shared horizons to respond, by integrating with the services already active, to the social and civil needs of the women of our city” they wrote with regret, but also with hope. Who knows, maybe awareness will lead to something concrete and above all stable in the near future.
