A work grant for Bianca

A past marked by drug addiction, a present dealing with the mistakes of her youth, and a future she’s trying to build. This is the story of Bianca, a young mother who fell into the world of drugs, as many others have, but is now slowly managing to recover.

"I started using drugs at the age of 22, together with my husband - she tells us. The input to quit came from my first child. I realized that by continuing to take drugs I would never be able to have a social and working life”. At that point, she decided to change her life. Eleven years ago Bianca quit taking drugs. She found a job as a secretary in a law firm. She became a mother for the second time and separated from her husband. Then the owners retired and she was left without a job.

Today she is the mother of three children aged 19, 16 and 2 ½ and she has a new partner by her side. Her older children, from her ex-husband, despite having been entrusted to her, live with their maternal grandparents. And so, Bianca takes care of the little one. One of her wishes is to regain her revoked license and find a job and regain her independence. "I have a degree in accounting, but when you have a criminal record, who will hire you?".

Last year, between June and October, Bianca was among those who were able to count on one of the work grants of the socio-educational project Family and work that, for the past three years, the Valter Baldaccini Foundation has been carrying out together with the Diocesan Caritas of Foligno through the association Ark of the Mediterranean.

“In spite of my past, I have been given trust – says Bianca - and that's what I need most right now. It has allowed me to work, to do it together with young people, making me feel good and without having to take time away from my family. It was a commitment that kept me busy on a daily basis and now, I really miss it. I would like to be able to go back to a similar experience".

And while waiting to see her dreams come true, Bianca spends her days with her family, keeping company with an elderly person a couple of times a week. In short, she seems to have taken the right path. Now Bianca just has to keep walking it.

Thanks to Maria Tripepi of Caritas Diocesana Foligno for having shared Bianca's story.