MiLove. Stop by Portanuova, go shopping and donate a suspended visit
From Sergio Rossi shoes to Valentino bags, from Twinset and Golden Goose dresses to high-end perfumes. But also design and furnishing objects, textiles and haute couture accessories. In Portanuova, in Piazza Gae Aulenti, you can now find MiLove, the charity temporary shop that hosts top brand fashion products sold at very discounted prices, to support the Visita Sospesa® Project. The project gives people and families, who are experiencing a moment of fragility and economic difficulty, the opportunity to access free medical care and support at the outpatient clinics.
We met Emanuela Verna, Head of the Visita Sospesa® Project, and asked her a few questions.
PN > ‘O cafè suspiso’, this philanthropic and supportive habit of Naples inspired the name of the Visita Sospesa® project. What struck you about this concept?
EV > The fascination with the suspended coffee comes from its mutualistic meaning. In the case of the suspended coffee it is an action, I drink a coffee but I pay for two. In the case of Medici in Famiglia it is even easier, just by choosing Medici in Famiglia for your medical care. I do good for myself because I monitor my health and at the same time I do good for someone else, because by being treated here rather than in another center, someone else after me will be able to access treatment. In the case of MiLove this chain effect multiplies even more. I buy a nice gift for someone, I make them happy with a Sergio Rossi shoe and at the same time I treat someone who otherwise cannot be treated. This in my opinion is, in its essence, the power of the Visita Sospesa® message.
PN > Speaking of Medici in Famiglia, how is it linked to the Visita Sospesa® Project? How does booking visits to the center and queue management work?
EV > We do not decide who can benefit from the Visita Sospesa®, but we have set up a network that currently has more than 80 partners, including public schools, pediatricians, general practitioners, UONPIA, hospitals, public service activities, and many third sectors, such as social cooperatives, social enterprises, voluntary associations, parishes, which in fact report people or families in fragile conditions. For years now, we have been working with the various local QuBì, which is this project of Fondazione Cariplo to intercept child poverty in several neighborhoods of Milan. The partner organization reports the family to us with their needs, our secretariat contacts the family and books the first available place. If there is a need for an orthopedic visit, for example, and the orthopedic doctor is there the day after tomorrow, he is there the day after tomorrow whether the patient is paying or in Visita Sospesa®. There are no different channels. For us, all patients are the same. Anyone who needs a service has it in good time. We have no waiting lists in any specialty, also because the power of Medici in Famiglia is that we have been able to attract many specialists over the years.
All specialties require an access time, from the call to the visit, that goes from 3 to 5 working days, even for those specialties in which the public service is most in trouble such as child neuropsychiatry, ophthalmology, dermatology, gynecology. So there is no waiting list.
PN > And if I asked you how you imagine the Project in 5 years?
EV > The desire is that in 5 years this Project will close, because the hope is that there will no longer be a need for Visita Sospesa®, that the Health Service will be a little less in trouble and that it will be able to accommodate all the requests, thus managing to raise funds for other projects that go beyond health, which in my opinion should be a right for everyone as established by the Constitution. Looking at it a little more realistically, maybe I would like there to be at least, I don’t say 100, but at least 10 other realities like ours in Italy.
PN > What kind of appeal does the world of charity have in Italy, and in Milan? What is your perception?
EV > At this moment, thanks to the pandemic, let’s at least give it a positive aspect, there is a huge focus on health. In particular, on the health of minors. Working with minors, we have many children who have recently arrived in Italy or who have grown up in non-Italian-speaking contexts who, between lockdown and DAD, have done very little school and what they have done, they have done it with the use of a mask and therefore also have linguistic difficulties and impediments. I believe that we will see the real effects of the pandemic in the medium to long term. Not intervening today really means seeing devastating effects in the case of children. Even the first studies that exist, in terms of mental health, are quite alarming. We have seen an explosion of requests in child neuropsychiatry for all those externalizing disorders
PN > Let’s go back to MiLove, where did this name come from?
EV > MiLove is a fairly recent name. Before the pandemic, rather than a temporary shop, we organized a mega event in the spring. Everything was concentrated in 3-4 days. Given the limit imposed by the pandemic of not being able to concentrate so many people all in one weekend, because we really had queues, we said to ourselves that it would be better to open a small temporary shop that goes on for a longer period and in which we can limit access. By now we have all become very good at queuing. So, since we are changing the nature of the event a bit, let’s change the method, let’s also change the logo. And the name. And we thought of taking inspiration from our act of love for the city of Milan, so the Mi was a good fit. Love too. We also have the heart in the Vita Sospesa logo.
PN > Can anyone support you, a private individual, a company? How?
EV > The first way to support us is to choose us for your treatments. This is already a way to support us. And then yes, we can accept donations from anyone.
PN > So can we say that “shopping is good”? (men, open your ears wide) Can we say it to our friends, boyfriends, husbands?
EV > Absolutely yes and in this case it is good at least 2 times, even 3. To those who do it, to those who receive it and to those who, thanks to that gift, receive an even greater gift, because we are talking about health. We cannot elevate ourselves more than this.
PN > Can we say that at MiLove we find haute couture?
EV > Not only that. We receive boxes and boxes and there is something for all budgets. We also receive donations from Benetton, Gallo, Dr. Martens, Carpisa.
PN > It is doing good twice, doing good twice. Last question. I would like to know what kind of experience you are having in the store in Piazza Gae Aulenti. What could the Portanuova neighborhood do to support your mission?
EV > Word of mouth is the winning weapon. We are a multiplier of generosity. Piazza Gae Aulenti is a very beautiful, central place, but if you don’t know there’s a shop, it’s not a given that you’ll go there because it’s not a shop that’s always been there. Word of mouth in this sense helps us to spread the word as much as possible that it’s there, that you spend little by choosing items that normally cost a lot and it’s all for a good purpose.
PN > Can the fact that the Portanuova neighborhood is a trendy neighborhood, very popular with those who want to go shopping, and that many people pass by there precisely because it is one of the most well-known shopping districts in the city certainly work in your favor?
EV > Of course. Absolutely.
Further information: https://www.milove.it/2021/