Dancing the Walk

Forty years ago, Fr. Gianni Carparelli started the Caritas School of Life, to help those battling addiction through a therapeutic community approach. Below, he reflects on the organization’s impact in light of releasing a new book on his work, Dancing the Walk, which will be launched at an education-raising event at Montecassino Event Venue in Vaughan on March 15.

1. Dancing the Walk was written to celebrate life and to honour the 4o years since the Caritas School of Life was founded. Can you tell us how the organization has helped those in the Archdiocese of Toronto and beyond over the past four decades?

Since its launch, thousands of people and families have found help and support during difficult times.

2. As you mark four decades of Caritas School of Life, how did it begin?

It started with a phone call from a distraught mother when I was serving at Transfiguration of Our Lord Church in Etobicoke, Ont. Her son was struggling with substance abuse. Desperate as she did not know what to do, I made a few phone calls and from that point onwards, I decided to get involved to help those battling addiction. To raise awareness, I started talking on the radio, doing newspaper interviews, speaking at parishes – reaching the Italian community, the Portuguese community and then eventually the English-speaking community.

I began by organizing a parent’s support group, researching programs in other countries, and learned that much of Europe had adopted a Therapeutic Community approach. I began nurturing relationships with therapeutic communities throughout different regions of Italy and, after investigating each community, I started referring Canadians in need to enroll in these programs in Italy. At that stage, I recruited Canadians returning from Italy upon completion of their programs. These therapeutic community experiences were used to shape the Caritas residential program and the Caritas Therapeutic Community launched in 1985.

3. What does Dancing the Walk mean?

The anonymous support groups say: talking the talk, talking the walk, walking the talk: I add Dancing the Walk, because life ought to be lived with joy, even when difficult to walk. The title and the cover designed by Mercedes Tibollo, a young medical student and poet (MC for the event) shows a life that wants to dance even when we are tired in life, even when we happen to fall and, with a humble attitude, we accept to walk/dance again. Many will be able to do it, with help and time, but not everybody. We in the program are like a mechanic shop: cars arrive to us broken, many can be restored and fixed, but not all of them. The approach is called “biopsychosocial-spiritual care,” designed to treat the whole person and their various facets.

4. At the upcoming book launch in Vaughan on March 15, all proceeds from donations made towards the sale of the book will go towards a project in Italy – a house for ex-inmates returning to a free life. Can you tell us about the importance of this project?

Donations will go towards a residence for ex-inmates I support with help of friends in Viterbo, Italy. Many ex-inmates are sent to a “free” life: free from the chains of a jail but to be truly “free,” there is a need of a house/home that often they do not have, guidance and the time to adapt to a “free” life. They can stay with us the time needed: being introduced to school or to work (which is very difficult for them to find as people do not trust them). It is not a fundraising event – but a moment to raise awareness in a society where often we are more concerned about money than awareness and education, which poses the risk of having structures in place that are meant to help but with a poor vision.

5. For those who aren’t familiar with Caritas, can you explain the community element and its unique approach to treatment?

It is not enough to be “clean” from substances for a while. There is a need, in many cases, to reconstruct the integrity of a human being: physical fitness, phyco-emotional balance and a spiritual understanding of the value of life – the responsibility with the world and people, respect, honesty and a vision that does not exclude the OTHER. I remember what the Gospel of Luke (2:52) said about the raising of Jesus: “He grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and man.”

For more information about the upcoming book launch, please click here.