Casa Cares welcomes some of the asylum seekers and refugees that have arrived in Italy through the Humanitarian Corridors of the Mediterranean Hope project.

The first refugees arrived in Reggello at the end of February 2016. This first group was joined by others in the following months and others will arrive to take the place of those who have completed all their paperwork and are ready to begin a new life project. To date, we have given hospitality to individuals and families mainly from Syria and refugees from Lebanon. After an initial period of adjustment, our guests have started collaborating as volunteers and contributed, according to their preparation and inclination, to various services, ordinary maintenance chores, care of the gardens and the poultry. The staff at Cares House assists the professional operators of the Waldensian

Diaconia in accompanying our Syrian friends in the discovery of the language, culture and territory by creating times of sharing and talking.

Mediterranean Hope is a programme of the FCEI (Federation of Evangelical Churches in Italy) and is financed by the 8⁰⁄₀₀ income tax donations to the Waldensian Church, with the support of some  other European Protestant churches. It was created to provide concrete action to welcome refugees and is intended to stimulate the European institutions and civil society to reflect on the theme of forced migrations.

The Humanitarian corridors were organized after an extended dialogue with the Italian authorities, to allow refugees in particular conditions of vulnerability to arrive in Italy by air with a visa for humanitarian motives. In two years, one thousand visas have been granted to selected beneficiaries from Lebanon, Morocco and Eritrea. When they arrive in Italy, the immigrants are welcomed into various receiving structures, including those of the Waldensian Diaconia such as Cares House. The proposed model is diffuse reception to favour integration of the newcomers into the welcoming community.