Breakfasts for the poorest

At Casa Santa Luisa, hope passes through a cup of coffee. It is the miracle of “Breakfasts for the poorest”: every morning at 7.15 am the sisters and volunteers of the Vincentian family offer a hundred needy people what for many of them will be the only meal of the day. Every year around 40 thousand breakfasts are served and every day Sister Cristina cultivates the same dream: “To open the door of our canteen and not find anyone waiting anymore”. 

The historic refectory in the centre of Turin, a stone’s throw from Porta Nuova station, is a point of reference for the homeless of the city. In addition to being able to eat a hearty breakfast, they can have a shower and receive clean clothes too. The whole activity is financed by Specchio dei tempi and by the readers of La Stampa. Recently the foundation has also donated a van for the transport of food and for home help for the poorest.  

Over the years, Specchio has also supported the refurbishment of four emergency housing units always in the same building. Then the works on the canopy for the courtyard, the new toilets and during the lockdown the signs and anti-contagion sanitary materials. The nuns and volunteers did not stop even in the face of the pandemic: they adapted to the new rules and social distancing, continued to care for the poorest. In addition to concrete help, they offered psychological support and fraternal closeness to their “Friends”. This is how the guests of Casa Santa Luisa are called and accompanied every day on a journey towards independence.