Each person carries along different needs, expectations and resources. As operators of the reception area we spend a lot of time alongside migrants in their day-to-day life, that is why a crucial aspect of our job is to build a personalized relationship of trust with them. Through a relationship of mutual understanding we can in fact better collect the person’s needs and provide him or her with the right kind of support.

 

Building a relationship accepted by both parts entails a number of stages. The first is the knowing-phase, in which information about the person is collected. Following this, the operator works with the equipe to evaluate the person’s needs and then engages in a discussion with the beneficiary about his or her motivations and the steps he or she needs to take to reach autonomy.

 

An important part of the individualized work we carry out consists in meeting our beneficiaries in private, focusing on listening to them. But the relationship grows also through sharing informal moments and activities, inside and outside the living spaces. Small and apparently meaningless things such as sharing a meal or a coffee, are actually crucial for developing mutual trust and understanding.

 

Besides this strong relational element, we carry out a number of “bureaucratic” actions which are though very important for the beneficiary, such as booking appointments for health-care and other services, supporting in filling in documents, helping to deal with the paperwork needed to open a bank account, etc.