Tending to the homeless at the railway station in Rome

“I started to give a hand, Annette, a German Focolarina recounts, “in December 2014. The cold had already set in and there was urgent need for blankets. In trying to find out more, a member of the RomAmoR ONLUS proposed: “More than blankets we need you to come and give us a hand.” The week after I was already at the Ostia station. It was a really moving experience. On approaching those people I discovered that oddly enough, they were the ones to welcome me! I realised that this is not an uncomfortable category of people to avoid, but persons who wish to relate with others, and are capable of imbuing human warmth. After a while also the volunteers came with a hot dinner and the anonymous, cold and bleak station, warmed up. ”

Annette has changed since then. The first nights she couldn’t sleep thinking of Giovanni, Stefan, Mohamed who did not have a warm bed like hers. She started to review her wardrobe, to see if there was still something else she could share, despite the fact that in the Focolare community already tries to live only with the essentials. But above all, she continued going to the station every Monday. One evening, looking at the notebook that listed the requests of the homeless, she saw that a man needed a pair of shoes. Since there were none in the house she remembered Chiara Lubich’s experience during the war, when she asked Jesus present in the poor, for a pair of shoes. “So I did the same thing and in two weeks ten pairs of shoes arrived!”

When autumn set in, there again was need for blankets. In November, two friends from Rome celebrated their birthdays so they thought of asking blankets as gifts. Many did arrive, but they were not enough. Since she could not give away what they had at home, Annette again asked Jesus, so that He in the poor could get some warmth. «In a matter of a few days, she said – a theological Centre that was moving house sent 4 huge sacks containing 30 blankets and ten camp mattresses. Not to mention the blankets gathered by other volunteers.”

This sharing spirit spread like oil puddle. A colleague’s neighbour who had lost faith in any type of social activity, donated warm clothing and also got a friend involved. “But even more than these interventions of Providence–Annette confided – is the experience we make. These are people who have no food, no roof over their heads, but who slowly acquire dignity, since they are clean and better dressed and because together we are living a fraternal relationship. I always try to help the others sincerely, disposing of myself as a small instrument of God’s love. And they give me the chance to testify to the Gospel “on the road,” sharing with people from all over the world the most varied ideas and opinions. In this reciprocity, things change, the face of the city is transformed and one can perceive this love concretely… even if only through a hot dinner. At Christmas we received a special gift: two friends of the station came to celebrate with us in the Focolare, to everyone’s great joy. “