The new three -year agreement was signed between Banca Mediolanum, Mediolanum EF Foundation and the San Matteo Foundation – Together against the usury non -profit organization, a reality promoted by the Archdiocese of Turin and activates throughout Piedmont. The goal is clear: economically supporting over -indebted and “non -bankable” people, that is, those who can no longer access traditional credit.
The agreement provides for a 200,000 euro rotary credit line which will be used for unsecured loans up to 20,000 euros, which can be returned in 60 months with a fixed rate at 1.25%. An initiative, that of the “rescue loan”, which is accompanied by financial education and social accompaniment courses, carried out by the volunteers of the San Matteo Foundation and the bank consultants. The Foundation, founded in 1994 on the impulse of Cardinal Giovanni Saldarini, has already paid in Piedmont almost 28 million euros for the benefit of over 2,300 families.
Hope and dignity for those in difficulty
“We want to return hope and dignity to those who live moments of economic fragility – said Roberto Mollo, president of the San Matteo Foundation – building redemption paths together”. On the same line Giovanni Pirovano, president of Banca Mediolanum: «Banks have a social function. Our task is to listen to the territory and contrast financial exclusion. The “rescue loan” is a concrete tool of conscious debt, to reconstruct the future of many families ».
The initiative, which is part of the commitment of Banca Mediolanum to support inclusive finance, has been active for 16 years in collaboration with 16 diocesan and interdiocesan foundations in 13 Italian regions. To date, loans have been paid for a total value of 7,888,454 euros in favor of 856 families, on a total rotary ceiling of 5,850,000 euros.
And in Bari the commitment is renewed
The commitment against super -indebtedness is also renewed in Puglia. In fact, the extension of the agreement between Banca Mediolanum, Mediolanum EF Foundation and the San Nicola anti -usury foundation and Saints Ets, a reality active throughout the regional territory, will be formalized in Bari.
The new three -year agreement will allow the disbursement of further funding in favor of subjects in economic difficulty, excluded from the ordinary banking circuit. The initiative will be presented at the headquarters of the Foundation in Bari, in via dei Jesuits 20, with the participation of Antonella Bellomo (San Nicola anti -usury Foundation and Santi Medici Ets) and Giovanni Pirovano (Banca Mediolanum).
During the event, the Foundation will illustrate a balance of the activities carried out in recent years. The Bari headquarters represents a fundamental node in the network of anti-usury foundations affiliated with Banca Mediolanum, together with the similar experiences active in Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna, Liguria, Sardinia, Veneto, Lazio, Sicily, Campania, Calabria, Abruzzo, Tuscany and Piedmont.
A national model of financial solidarity
The network of foundations connected to the national anti -usury council “San Giovanni Paolo II” works in synergy with the diocesan Caritas and parish listening centers, to intercept the most critical situations and provide a concrete response. The goal is not only to provide loans, but to educate, accompany and return autonomy to those who risk social marginalization due to debts.
With the “Rescue loan”, Banca Mediolanum and the Mediolanum Foundation promote a virtuous model of ethical finance, in line with the sustainable development objectives of Agenda 2030, in particular in the fight against poverty and for access to a dignified work. A choice that confirms how finance, if oriented towards the common good, can be a tool of social justice.
