| Founder(s) | Mario Furlan |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1994 |
| Area served | Italy, Bosnia-Herzegovina |
| Motto | Solidarity and Security |
| Website | http://www.cityangels.org/ |
The City Angels group is a non-confessional, independent, multiethnical and antiracist group of volunteers, founded in 1994 in Milan by Mario Furlan, an Italian journalist, writer and university professor of Motivation and personal growth. They are also present in Rome, Turin, Palermo, Salerno, Venice, Parma, Padua, Messina, Brescia, Verona, Terni, Taranto, Novara, Como, Varese, Cagliari and Lecce. Since June 2011, the City Angels are also present in Tuzla, in Bosnia-Herzegovina. In Milan, the City Angels have twice received the "Ambrogino d'Oro", the city's highest official recognition. In 2008 the Ambrogino was awarded to the honorary City Angel Edward "Eddie" Gardner, a Ghanaian man who risked dying on July 20 of that year after being stabbed, in a racist attack, by three drug dealers shouting "nigger!" because he was trying to convince young people not to take drugs.[1][2]
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City Angels are volunteers who assist citizens and homeless in emergency and distress, by helping those who are marginalized: homeless, immigrants, drug addicts and the elderly. They are the only non-profit association in Italy also involved in preventing and fighting street crime, in cooperation with law enforcement agents. In Milan, they run "Casa Silvana", the only home for families open all night and even hosting the homeless animals. They generally operate in areas with major social problems, which in many cities is usually around the railway stations.
At first, City Angels caused a stir as the first voluntary association for security. Tjey were met with skepticism, if not with outright hostility, by the institutions. But soon the situation changed, and the Angels have been working closely for many years with the institutions, which often contact them to open new chapters.
City Angels have always publicly expressed their opposition to vigilante groups. "Vigilantes - Furlan explains - are in search of the enemy. We are in search of people to help."
Among City Angel activities are:
City Angels, during their service, are required to wear a uniform that is designed to make them recognizable by the "road users", i.e. immigrants, homeless, drug addicts, alcoholics but also by ordinary citizens and tourists that can ask Angels for help.
Their uniform consists of:
The uniform of the City Angels, along with other information about City Angels, is exhibited since May 2009 in the Museo del Risorgimento in [[Milan].
The City Angels' emblem is made by an eagle with outstretched wings, protecting a city skyline. The eagle represents courage, foresight, nobility of soul. Above this symbol are the words "City Angels" and below is the mission of the association, "Solidarity and Security".
The Angels are mostly between 18 and 45 years, of all nationalities (there is no upper age limit); 40% of them are women, 30% are immigrants. They do not carry any weapon. They wear a red shirt or jacket and the blue beret of the United Nations, to emphasize the fact of being a force for peace.
Volunteers are well trained, brave and balanced. To become a City Angel a candidate has to undergo a training course lasting three months, for a total of 24 lessons, twice a week. After passing an aptitude test, the candidate has to compile the application for admission, pay an annual insurance fee and handle the following documents: certificate of good health, passport photos, photocopy of identity card. Twelve classes are held in twelve lessons in gym (compulsory attendance). In class, concepts like first aid, alcohol and drug addiction are explained; also, rules of procedure and legal, psychology and communication concepts are taught. In the gym lessons on teamwork and self-defense techniques are given. Those who finish the course may take the final exam: before passing the final exam a candidate is not yet a City Angel, but an "auxiliary", and circulates with a bib instead of the red shirt. In an average of ten aspiring volunteers, six pass an aptitude test, three come to the final exam and two pass it. As the president and founder Furlan says, "we are interested in quality rather than quantity, of volunteers."
From their birth, City Angels have been organizing public initiatives to promote tolerance, solidarity, anti-racism and brotherhood among people. Among their events, the multi-religious prayer the day before Easter in the Milan Central Station: representatives of various religions (priests, imams, rabbis, Protestant pastors, ...) pray together in the middle of the homeless. Another event is the "Angel Day" at the table of the poor in Milan: a day in which the mayor, together with political leaders and with television, entertainment, sports and culture stars wear the uniform of the Angels and act as waiters to the homeless.
The City Angels have received several awards in their history by the institutions. Among these the most important are: