Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

In the already active centers in Municipalities 2, 3, 6 and 8, services for over 660 women and 130 children. During the Covid-19 emergency, 250 refurbished PCs donated 
Daria Colombo: “Important milestone, the network to support women and families is expanding. Next opening in Town Hall 9” 
 
Milan, February 3 2021 – A new Milano Donna Center arrives in Municipality 5. The space dedicated to women and families of the Municipality of Milan opened today in via Savoia, in the virtual presence of the mayor Giuseppe Sala and Daria Colombo, the mayor's delegate for gender equality. The inauguration was also attended by Sandro Bramati, president of Municipality 5, Stefania Bartoccetti of Telefono Donna and the musician Ilaria Biagini.

“The project to create a Milan Women's Center in each of the nine Municipalities - states the Mayor of Milan, Giuseppe Sala - takes an important new step forward. With the new headquarters in via Savoia we reach five, an ideal turning point that will take us to the end of the journey started three years ago in the coming months. The centers already open have proven not only to be a place of services and proximity for women and families but, especially in this last period marked by the pandemic, new points of reference for the large solidarity network put in place for the benefit of all citizens. Thanks to everyone who worked to make this new opening possible."

“This new milestone makes me particularly happy – said Daria Colombo, whose initiative was responsible for the birth of the project – not only because a new center is added to the network of the four already active in the city, but also and above all because, in a such a difficult moment for families and for women in particular, it will be a concrete point of reference. The Center was entrusted through a tender by Municipality 5 to Telefono Donna and I am sure that it will be able to contribute to improving the inclusion of women, their sense of self-efficacy, their active participation in the life of the city. We are convinced that the creation of the Milano Donna Centres, with their services also for children, adolescents and the elderly, in addition to being useful for women, indirectly offers help to families and therefore to society".

The first Milano Donna Center opened its doors in May 2018 in Gallaratese, in via degli Appennini, followed, at the end of November of the same year, by the space in viale Faenza, in Barona. In November 2019, the Municipality Center 2 was inaugurated, located in via Sant'Uguzzone, and in July 2020 the one in via Narni, in the heart of the Crescenzago-Rizzoli district. 

In recent years, over 660 women have turned to the four facilities. In particular, there are around 80 women (with courses already completed or in progress) who, intercepted through the services offered by the centres, then revealed that they were victims of violence (from physical abuse to economic violence): thanks to the anti-violence and counseling it was possible to help them and direct them towards specialized structures. Over 150 took advantage of the job orientation services, Italian courses for foreigners, financial education and IT. Many have chosen groups to enrich their free time with theater courses, writing courses, knitting courses, film clubs, etc.

Supporting women also means offering services aimed at their children. Here then are the after-school activities, the workshops for the little ones and the summer school which made it possible to follow more than 130 children and which, during the months of the pandemic emergency, represented a fundamental support for families. In fact, thanks to the collaboration with the Recordati company, the Milano Donna Centers were also able to distribute 250 refurbished and perfectly functioning computers to as many children who needed them.

After the space in Via Savoia, it will be the turn of Municipality 9; in fact, the next Milano Donna Center will open in via Cirié, Niguarda district.