Second Chance
Among the initiatives that take businesses by the hand, bringing them into prisons and guiding them through the labyrinth of procedures, there is also Second Chance, a non-profit association founded by a journalist from La7, Flavia Filippitogether with the author and documentary maker Alessandra Ventimiglia Pieri and the owner of Ethicatering, Beatrice Busi Deriu. «We started slowly, with very few means apart from our will to help these people and lend a hand to commercial establishments and businesses and in a short time this activity has become enormous – says Filippi -. We also have requests from large chains and business associations that are taking advantage of the opportunity to have tax rebates and at the same time to open the prison doors to people of good will». In short, a small boom.
Starting from the prison in Rome, the association has now opened its “branches” throughout Italy: as well as in the capital also in Opera, Bollate, Monza, Venice, breaking latest news, Civitavecchia, Frosinone, Terni, Rieti, Viterbo, Secondigliano. “We are a sort of link between prisons and companies willing to facilitate the reintegration into work of prisoners at the end of their sentence by taking advantage of the benefits granted by the Smuraglia law”, explains Filippi who is also president. These are young people at the end of their sentence who already benefit from reward permits to go home and who have received authorization from the director, for good behavior, to work outside the walls of the prison.
«Finding a job – explains Filippi – is the greatest aspiration for those who dream of reintegrating; for entrepreneurs there is also the possibility of doing business inside prisons, which often have huge industrial warehouses to be given on loan for free use to those who bring training and work ». The option provides thefree rent, 520 euro discount on each worker, 95% of contributions reduced. At the moment the association has opened the doors of the correctional facilities to more than 100 inmates “but this is a constantly evolving number, given the volume of applications”, adds Filippi.
The accessions
To date, the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Terna, Conad Nord Ovest with the Civitavecchia logistics hub, Palombini Group, Fnip (National Federation of Cleaning Companies), Tsg Italia, Axcent Group have adhered to the Smuraglia law through the Second Chance service , Palazzo del Freddo Fassi, Pioda Imaging, chef Filippo La Mantia, as well as «various restaurants and construction companies because catering and construction are the trades that are learned more easily in prison», concludes Flavia Filippi. And having overcome prejudice, the number one enemy for those behind bars, the level of satisfaction of employers is very high. “You just need to know this possibility and know how to seize it,” says Filippi. The rest comes by itself.