City Angels


The City Angels group is an independent, multiethnic and anti-racist group of street volunteers, founded in 1994 in Milan by Mario Furlan, an Italian journalist, writer and university professor of motivation and personal growth. The group is also present in Rome, Turin, Brescia, Cagliari, Parma, Busto Arsizio, Gallarate, Bergamo, Palermo, Monza, Campomarino, Novara, Como, Varese, Albenga, Savona, Lecco and Lecce; since 2014, they have also been active in Lugano and Chiasso, Switzerland.
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 "dirty nigger!" because he was trying to convince young people not to take drugs.

Activities

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; and they also run other two shelters for the homeless, one just for men and the other also for women and families. They generally operate in areas with major social problems, which in many cities is usually around the railway stations.
The City Angels have been working closely for many years with the institutions, which often contact them to open new chapters. The President of the Republic, Giorgio Napolitano, has received them in his Quirinale office on December 9, 2009 and has complimented them, saying they represent, as volunteers, "the best of Italy". Pope Benedict XVIth has called them "Scouts of the XXIst century".
City Angels have always publicly expressed their opposition to vigilante groups. "Vigilantes - Mario Furlan explains - are in search of the enemy. We are in search of people to help."
Among City Angel activities are:
In Switzerland the Angels are particularly active in helping the disabled and the elderly. In Chiasso, at the border with Italy, they help the border police.
The City Angels of Italy and Switzerland are founding members of Eunwa, based in Vienna, Austria.

City Angel uniform

City Angels 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.

Emblem

The City Angels' emblem is an eagle with outstretched wings, protecting a city skyline. The eagle represents courage, foresight, nobility of the soul. Above this symbol are the words "City Angels" and below is the mission of the association, "Solidarity and Security".

Training course

The Angels are mostly between 18 and 45 years, of all nationalities ; 50,8% of them are women, 27% 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 have to be well trained, brave and balanced. To become a City Angel a candidate has to undergo a training course lasting two months, for a total of 16 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. 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. The self-defense used by City Angels is called Wilding, has been created by the founder Mario Furlan and is based on psychology and instinct.
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."

Public initiatives

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 Christmas and Easter in the Milan Central Station: representatives of various religions pray together in the middle of the homeless.
Another event is the "Angel Day" at the main Milan soup kitchen: 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.

Awards and prizes

The City Angels have received several awards in their history by the institutions. Among these the most important are: