13/01/2024
At the begining of a new year, I want to write to say a huge thank you again to all our donors, and other people who have followed our project or stayed with us. Last year, we hosted 250 pilgrims in our home, and a few others in a friend's place in Capranica. We helped co-found a pilgrim hostel network called POP (Pilgrims hosting pilgrims in Italian), which grew from our initial 3 members, to over 16 by the end of the year. Some of those are on other spiritual paths in Italy, like the Via San Francesco, but we're all bound together by the shared idea of welcoming pilgrims in a home-like environment with a shared dinner.
In big news, we're ready for our first expansion. We've officially moved out of the Vicolo del Ponticello house into our new small apartment nearby, which frees up room in the original place to add 4 more beds, and a dedicated space for a volunteer. We're hosting our first long-term volunteer now, a wonderful pilgrim and friend named Gina, from Australia. Because of her we are able to continue hosting pilgrims through the winter even though I'm back in the USA to care for my mother. We'll be making our first large purchase from the donations you've given us over the years soon to buy 5 more beds, matresses, and 8 to 10 more sets of sheets, to facilitate this expansion.
This year is the lead-up to the Jubilee, which is held every 25 years in Rome, and in which we expect a big surge in pilgrim numbers and their needs. We're hoping to partner closely with Capranica to prepare more space for pilgrims to eat, rest, and explore. Capranica, independently, is seeking funds to build 2 new public restrooms, as well as create some historic walking tours to showcase the history and beauty of Capranica's center to people passing through. We have some ideas for adding accessible space for pilgrims with mobility issues as well, though that's proving challenging due to all the stairs in the historic center, coupled with the difficulty of changing things due to historical protection. (Huge thanks to Federica and Nico and their Infinito Cammino project for opening our eyes to this need)
We also see the idea of pilgrimage slowly awakening in our local community, and online as well. A local artist has produced statues of pilgrims in his home workshop, and will also produce small tokens (such as the T of Saint Francis). Our local volunteer's association has opened a small storefront in order to showcase local products and fund our initiatives which help to clean and maintain both the Via Francigena and other local foot trails. A friend of ours has converted a beautiful property which was used for small conferences into additional bed space for pilgrims, also on a donativo basis, which he makes available to us when we're full, sick, or not available for other reasons.
We've curated a list of pilgrims, and a few others who have reached out to us privately, who are interested to volunteer with us. This year, we plan to expand that initiative, and communicate with other hostels with similar needs to ours along the way to cooperate and collaborate volunteer needs within our region. On that note, if anyone is interested to be added to the volunteer list, and has walked a pilgrimage before, please message us at [email protected]!
In short, our future is bright, and we can't wait to see what the next step of this amazing journey looks like. One step at a time.
With love,
Travis, Juliane, and everyone collaborating on the Road to Rome and the POP projects.
