John Cabot University Wins VORECO Award for Social Inclusion
VORECO Onlus
On Monday, June 25 Professor Andrea Lanzone, Assistant Dean for Student Academic Affairs, and Service Learning project coordinator, was invited to VORECO Onlus Center in Rome to accept the 2018 Annual Prize for Social Inclusion on behalf of JCU. John Cabot University’s project Service Learning – Combining Fieldwork and Education – promotes co-curricular activities for students and graduates interested in working in the humanitarian field. The aim is to provide a resource for civic engagement by enhancing career development by connecting educational goals with service to those in need. Participation is also open to staff and faculty in order to allow the entire JCU community to get to know and contribute to the local community.
VORECO Onlus is Regina Coeli prison’s operational center for social inclusion and development. Priest Vittorio Trani, the prison’s chaplain since 1972, founded the center in 1978 in order to support detainees on probation, ex-detainees, and their families in the process of social and psychological rehabilitation, with the help of civil society. The free services offered range from addressing basic needs including food, personal care, and hygiene, to more educational and professional activities, such as psychological and legal support, volunteer and work opportunities, and recreational initiatives. Eventually, the Center also opened its doors to the homeless, religious pilgrims, and generally people in need, offering 150 meals every day and a place where they can rest and take care of themselves with the help of social workers and volunteers.
John Cabot University received the Annual Prize for Social Inclusion because of its commitment and support for VORECO Onlus’ activities and services. Professor Lanzone commented: “This is a special moment for us. It means that we have been capable of understanding the seriousness of this commitment. You cannot make mistakes when dealing with people in need. Our students know how to interact with someone who needs help, with women and men who have been marginalized. My special thanks go to JCU President Franco Pavoncello and Dean Mary Merva, who have always been supportive and encouraging, to STAND – the JCU humanitarian student club, to Security Coordinator Vittorio Cardini, and Tiber Cafe Manager Iva Dragolova, who was able to to provide the Center with food supplies three days a week, for the past 9 months.”
