A simple intuition,
and a little radical.
People need to feel heard, recognized and accompanied. Next to the Basilica of Santa Maria della Croce, since 2017 we have been building bonds through work, hospitality and everyday gestures.
An arc stretched between roots and future
Let's imagine a place inspired by the beauty of the Basilica of Santa Maria della Croce, where spirituality is not distance, but presence. We want to be a space where two fundamental needs find a home: the need to belong; the need to grow. Like a bow stretched between roots and future: the roots are our history, the community, the tradition, the arrow is change, innovation, the people who grow.
«How do you fight the invisibility of people? Not with great proclamations, but with daily gestures: a look that recognizes, a job done together, a presence that leaves no one behind.»
Photos from the House 
The House comes to life when people meet
Our story continues in everyday gestures: a shared table, an activity done together, the time necessary for everyone to find their place.
A journey, one step at a time
Follow the path of the House: ten chapters, from the first four cakes to the community today.
The beginnings
On 12 March 2017 the House opens its door as a place of welcome for those who visit the Basilica, to promote the sanctuary and the culture of volunteering as social redemption. Three volunteers, four artisan cakes and two coffee machines welcome the first bus. The Pilgrim's Cake is born.
The challenge of free offer refreshments
The challenge of catering is accepted by involving new volunteers in the kitchen and in the dining room. In 2019 the collaboration with the Crema Social Community began: the first work paths, events, gatherings and ceremonies were born.
The birth of the ODV
In October the House becomes a Volunteer Organization. Events and requests are growing. You learn what working in a group really means: the reference is to feel welcomed, called by name, listened to.
The time of Covid
The pandemic hits hard. After the longest closure, between autumn 2020 and spring 2021, something unexpected happens: the youngest, marked by isolation, contribute to giving birth to something new.
The «Never alone again» project
It comes from the need for each other. The Home becomes a place of communication and support: a network of meetings so that every person, whatever their age or condition, can be an active participant in society.
Daily opening
From October 2022, in compliance with the regulations, catering opens: business lunches from Monday to Friday, breakfasts and lunches on Sundays, events on request. The «Together» project begins, aimed at people with relational and emotional fragilities.
The «La Luce» cooperative
Becoming a cooperative gives structure and continuity: transforming volunteering into real work, because work is the right of every person whatever their situation. Motto: «Let's nourish hope».
The laboratory grows
The «Insieme» project consolidates creative activities, educational paths and collaborations with the territory. Artisanal creations become concrete opportunities to learn, contribute and recognize oneself as capable.
An increasingly open House
Social restaurant, ceremonies, visits, courses and volunteering begin to be described as parts of a single project. The House strengthens dialogue with families, schools, associations and businesses.
The House of today
Today the Association and the Cooperative work under the same roof: hospitality generates relationships, the laboratory restores trust and catering transforms inclusion into daily work.
For whom is the House there
Who comes in with
We welcome those who walk through our doors as part of a human experience, even before a service.
With those who are fragile
Here you learn, you grow, you rediscover trust: every fragile person finds a role that really matters.
With schools and companies
For schools and corporate groups, work becomes a relationship laboratory, where the value of "us" is rediscovered.
With the territory
We are part of the community. We enhance it through: collaborations, culture, hospitality, active presence.
The small actions that keep us together
We don't believe in a job made only of procedures, but of connections. It is simple gestures that build the culture of the House every day.
The greeting
A "how are you?" here it is never formality: it is the first way to really see who we are in front of.
The comparison
We speak to each other clearly, even when it is uncomfortable: this is how we grow together, without misunderstandings.
Shared work
When someone is in difficulty, the work is redistributed: no one carries a burden alone.
Four words that keep us standing
The person is complete only when body, mind and relationship are in balance. These are the values that we have put in writing — and that we try to live every day.
The authentic relationship
No goal here is ever truly individual. For us, the relationship is not an accessory to the work: it is the work itself - learning every day to see the other.
The synergy of the group
There is no growth without collaboration. The "we" does not erase anyone: it amplifies them. Skills are intertwined, roles are supported, the baton is passed on.
Depth and slowness
We live in a fast time, too. We choose to slow down when we need to understand, listen, improve: every gesture is worth more if we do it with awareness.
The value of trust
Here you can make mistakes without fear of being excluded, ask for help without feeling weak, be yourself without masks. It is the safe harbor from which we start again.
The entire Charter of Values, with our full promise, is a document you can request.
Go to House documentsConnections
We don't believe in a job made only of procedures. We believe in a work made of connections. For this reason, in difficult moments: help is asked; we support ourselves with our gaze even before with words; you remain attached to the group, even under pressure. Work is never just individual: it is always a collective fact.
Our pact
The Casa del Pellegrino is not a static place. It is a living organism. Those who are part of it accept a simple and demanding challenge: leave no one behind.
Our promise
Everything we do converges in one direction: building a place where no one has to feel invisible. This is our way of giving shape, every day, to the promise: Never alone again.