Patrizia is the oldest among the mentally disabled from Anffas Taranto. He followed the activities of the association since its foundation in 1971, when he was part of the group of founders who gave life to the association, which he then chaired Dante Torraco. And even though she is now 69 years old, Patty, as she is known in town and in the community, continues to be always around everything that is happening and organizing. It is no coincidence that the first cohousing project for people with disabilities in Taranto, created by the local Anffas, is called “Patty’s House” and was inaugurated a few days ago.
“It’s an apartment that can accommodate up to four people with intellectual, relational or neurodevelopmental disabilities who have lost parental support,” he explains Alessandro Basile, President Anffas Taranto. “The family house was born as a result of Act 112 of 2016 “after us” because the apartment aims to welcome those who have become orphans and prevent them from being placed in a medical facility and thus losing their residual capacity for autonomy. But in this way, reintegration into a more familiar context, such as home, is encouraged, and one does not go far from one’s territory, one’s relatives, one’s own city, in which one has built a relationship.”