Supporting women’s autonomy does not simply mean funding a project. It means creating concrete conditions that allow a woman to rebuild her life, access stable employment, and regain confidence and independence.

This is the guiding principle behind Fondazione Marcegaglia’s participation in the Restart Italia Fund, an instrument promoted by Fondazione Opes-Lcef that provides patient capital at zero interest to social cooperatives engaged in combating gender-based violence and promoting women’s empowerment.

Since 2022, 12 cooperatives have been supported, with a total investment of 530,000 euros. This is a circular model: returned resources are reinvested in new organisations, fueling an ongoing process of social development.

In 2025 alone, the supported cooperatives created 836 stable jobs for women and generated a total turnover of 37 million euros. This demonstrates how inclusion and economic sustainability can strengthen each other.

Among the organisations recently included in the Fund are the social cooperative EVA, active in Campania, and the social cooperative Madre Teresa, based in Reggio Emilia: two different experiences in terms of territory and history, yet united by their daily commitment to supporting women in vulnerable situations and transforming shelter into concrete pathways toward autonomy.

Social cooperative EVA: from protection to renewal

Beyond shelter: building autonomy

Founded in 1999 in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, the EVA cooperative has been working for over twenty-five years to prevent and combat male violence against women. Today it manages 5 Anti-Violence Centres and 3 shelter houses across the provinces of Caserta and Benevento. In 2024 alone, 806 women were welcomed and supported through protection and recovery pathways from violence.

However, for EVA, protection alone is not enough. Without economic autonomy, the risk of vulnerability remains.

For this reason, alongside listening and protection services, the cooperative has developed entrepreneurial activities in assets confiscated from organised crime: the culinary workshop Le Ghiottonerie di Casa Lorena, the tailoring workshop EVA Lab, and the management of the refreshment areas at Teatro Mercadante and Teatro San Ferdinando. In 2025 these activities provided stable employment to 22 women who survived violence.

As President Daniela Santarpia explains, employment represents a concrete tool for dignity and personal reconstruction. The model adopted by the cooperative does not aim at maximising profit, but at quality, training and relationships: production time remains human time, not only productive time.

In Campania, where the female employment rate stands at 32.2% (Eurostat, 2024), among the lowest in Europe, creating job opportunities for women leaving situations of violence means addressing one of the main causes of economic dependency.

Il Giardino delle Camelie: work, culture and renewal

Thanks to the contribution of 40,000 euros provided through Restart Italia, in 2026 Il Giardino delle Camelie will take shape: an inclusive cultural bistro within the Royal Palace of Caserta Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The project involves the redevelopment of a space that will become not only a place for catering, but also an environment for training and job placement. At least 8 women leaving situations of violence will be able to undertake a structured professional pathway, acquiring marketable skills while working in a public-facing environment.

For EVA, transforming a cultural asset into a space of autonomy means restoring beauty and opportunity to the community, generating both social and economic value. This model combines legality, social enterprise and inclusion, demonstrating that even in territories marked by deep inequalities it is possible to build sustainable paths of renewal.

EVA’s work shows that combating violence also means building concrete alternatives: leaving violence is not measured only by protection, but by the real possibility of choosing one’s own future.

Social cooperative Madre Teresa: shelter that becomes freedom

Work as a transformative step

The social cooperative Madre Teresa was founded in 2001 in Reggio Emilia with the aim of promoting women’s shelter and empowerment, while supporting parenting and the well-being of children.

In 2024, 271 people were welcomed, including single women and mother–child families. This result was made possible thanks to close collaboration with local social and health services, united by a shared vision: integrating housing support with educational guidance and job orientation.

For the cooperative, work is not just a source of income: it is a passage toward freedom. It means being able to manage one’s own resources independently, strengthen awareness of one’s skills and look to the future with greater stability. As President Lisa Vezzani emphasises, acquiring professional skills – together with milestones such as obtaining a driving licence or securing a stable contract – represents for many women a turning point in their journey toward personal and family autonomy.

Mani in Pasta: when inclusion becomes enterprise

Since 2010, the artisanal workshop Mani in Pasta has been the productive heart of the cooperative. Born as a training initiative, it has now become a structured activity that permanently employs 12 women with open-ended contracts.

It produces fresh pasta and traditional specialties from the Reggio Emilia area, including gluten-free products recognised by the Ministry of Health. Here, quality is not only gastronomic: it is organisational, professional and relational. It is concrete proof that inclusion and economic sustainability can coexist.

Alongside the workshop, an internal guidance service supports women in training and entry into the labour market, building connections with companies across the territory.

Casale Alma: autonomy and community

Thanks to the contribution of 40,000 euros through Restart Italia, the cooperative will renovate a former agriturismo in the Parco della Musica of Correggio, which will become Casale Alma.

The facility will be able to host up to seven mother–child families, offering shelter, socio-pedagogical support and training pathways. The spaces will also be open to the community, encouraging encounters between enterprise and inclusion.

For Madre Teresa, autonomy means weaving together protection and opportunity: not only providing shelter, but creating the conditions for every woman to work, choose and remain the protagonist of her own journey.

An investment that builds community

The experiences of EVA and Madre Teresa show that autonomy does not arise from protection alone, but from the integration of shelter, training and employment. When these elements come together, change becomes sustainable.

Restart Italia makes this process possible, transforming economic resources into concrete opportunities for women and shared value for the territories.

Supporting change together

Support for social cooperatives through Restart Italia is part of Fondazione Marcegaglia’s ongoing commitment to promoting women’s economic and social autonomy.

Investing in organisations capable of combining shelter, training and employment means creating structural conditions for inclusion and concretely combating gender-based violence.
Discover all the projects supported by Fondazione Marcegaglia.

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