Benevento. The Municipality closes the multipurpose center 'It's more beautiful together'

“If the Caritas Network is bothering anyone, they should say so clearly. We are transparent, not subject to blackmail, we do not compromise. Perhaps someone feels their work is being tarnished, probably because the media have often said that Caritas is replacing the Social Services of the Municipality of Benevento. Come out into the open, we are available to meet the bureaucrats or whoever since January has been doing everything to close the “It's more beautiful together” center at a public meeting, documents in hand. We will then make our decisions: we will close the Dormitory, the Canteen, the Medical Room, and when the call comes in at night, I want to see who will respond to the emergency”, so said Don Nicola De Blasio, director of the Caritas of Benevento during the sit-in protest for the closure, scheduled for next June 30 by the Municipality of Benevento, of the Multifunctional Social Center in via Firenze, Opera Segno of the Caritas Network- “Salt of the Earth”.
"There is only one truth: they want to close the Center without a sufficient technical reason. They look for it but they can't find it," said Angelo Moretti, General Coordinator of Caritas and Director of the Consortium "Sale della Terra" Onlus.
During the sit-in protest yesterday at the CSP headquarters in via Firenze, Angelo Moretti illustrated, showing documents, the various phases that led to the closure of the center:

• January 29, 2018: communication, from the Zone III Social Plan of interruption of service starting from the following January 31 due to lack of regional funds. The CSP continues to provide its service;
• March 13, letter from families to the Councilor for Social Services of Benevento Patrizia Maio and to the managers of the B1 and B2 areas for the new provision of vouchers based on the family ISEE and not on the social and health care ISEE, according to which families must pay for the provision of the service based on their income;
• April 26, 2018: communication, from the Zone III Social Plan, of interruption of service starting from the following April 30 due to lack of regional funds;
• May 3, 2018: meeting, requested by the families, with the Councilor for Social Policies Patrizia Maio and the director of social services Alessandro Verdicchio, the director communicated the closure for no other reason than the uncertainty of the date of transfer of funds from the 2018 annual budget of the Campania Region. In order not to interrupt the service of the Center, the measure of retroactive vouchers on incoming funds was adopted;
• March 2018: anonymous letter denouncing the poor hygienic conditions of the Centre in via Firenze and the lack of care for users;
• May 14, 2018: inspection by the NAS of Salerno who found the conditions of the structure to be “Sufficient” and asked to send a series of documents, a request complied with on time;
• May 28, 2018: new letter of suspension of service, followed by a meeting with the Municipality of Benevento;
• June 25, 2018: the Campania Region communicates that the Funds for 2017 to the Area are about to be transferred but to have documentation of closure, next June 30, of the Multifunctional Social Center following the visit of the NAS of Salerno.
• At the “È più bello insieme” Center, the use sine titulo of the building in via Firenze is contested, a condition that is common to all public structures used by the third sector: for years the CSP has provided services even without vouchers in exchange for the use of the structure and furthermore it has declared its availability to a rental contract with a monthly fee of 462 euros.
  "We were confident that it was being resolved - said Angelo Moretti - also because the Campania Region confirmed to us today that the transfer of financial resources to Ambit B1 is imminent, a matter of hours. So the so-called "economic question" does not even exist. I announce that we will meet the Mayor between tomorrow and the day after tomorrow and immediately after, in the event of a negative outcome, we will begin a permanent presence with the families".