The Association Centro Astalli Trento ETS is a branch of Centro Astalli located in Trentino. Centro Astalli is the Italian branch of the Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), active in 50 countries in the world.

 

Our mission is to accompany, serve, and advocate for the rights of the people that arrive in Italy fleeing their countries of origin. In order to achieve it, we offer a number of services directed to the person, besides implementing awareness-raising and advocacy activities.

 

The daily functioning of our association is in charge of professionals and volunteers organized by function and divided in professional areas, but who often meet in order to guarantee the multidisciplinarity of our work. Our professionals include social operators, social workers, psychologists, Italian-L2 teachers, legal operators, planning and communication experts. They are supported by young people and adults who, as volunteers, devote part of their free time to sustain refugees in the process towards inclusion (through conversations in Italian, by helping them study for the driving license or homeworks, etc.). What they do allows them to have valuable relational experiences and to grow as human beings, something that creates a virtuous circle in the society by spreading the culture of hospitality.

Our association has two governing bodies: the Assembly of the associates and the Executive board. The first gathers together to elect the Board and to propose or approve amendments to the statute. During 2020, the Assembly promoted and enacted the transformation of the association into an Ente del Terzo Settore - ETS (third sector institution). The Board, instead, deals with ordinary and extraordinary administration. Its members are elected among the associates and meet monthly to share inspirations and define the operational strategy. The appointment lasts for three years.