Some of the treasures of the history of the Province of Saint Nicholas of Tolentine of the Order of Augustinian Recollects and the environments and spaces where it has carried out its work throughout history and today.
In 2000, the Augustinian Recollects established a pastoral and formation community in Fortaleza (Ceará, Brazil), within one of the neighbourhoods afflicted by poverty and inequality. Shortly thereafter, they identified one of their most serious issues: the widespread violence against young girls and adolescents through abuse, exploitation, and neglect.
Fortaleza’s atmosphere is conducive to such violence due to inequality; familial disruption; single-parent families, often with women abandoned after pregnancy; entrenched machismo; criminal impunity; very young mothers who themselves suffered abuse and lack the means to prevent the same fate for their daughters; and commercial sexual exploitation linked to tourism.
After years of engaging in less significant projects, in 2009, the Santa Monica Home was inaugurated to address these issues. It is situated within the Condominio Espiritual Uirapuru (CEU, Uirapuru Spiritual Condominium), a verdant area where Catholic Church institutions conduct social projects.
Santa Monica Home, adhering to the strictest standards and in compliance with the Justice Department’s rulings, welcomes female minors into a safe environment, isolated from hostile surroundings. They return to school, participate in workshops and therapies, learn to defend their rights, identify aggression and aggressors, and heal their self-esteem and the wounds inflicted upon them.
The facility, capable of housing fifty beneficiaries, includes three residence halls categorized by age group, where they live in a quasi-family setting with a foster mother; a cultural centre with rooms and a library; a central kitchen; a building housing administrative offices and spaces for therapy and social assistance; and a volunteer house where 18-year-old residents are allowed to stay but cannot return to independent living, ensuring they receive full support in labour market integration and specialized accompaniment.
From 2011 to 2019, the community of Misioneras Agustinas Recoletas [Augustinian Recollect Missionaries] collaborated with Santa Monica Home. Since 2021, the community of Agustinas Recoletas del Corazón de Jesús [Augustinian Recollect Sisters of the Heart of Jesus] has been involved. They bring the feminine aspect of the Augustinian Recollect charism to their care and serve as role models of accomplished and content women for the beneficiaries.
Following the closure of Saint Augustine Seminary in 2016, the community of Augustinian Recollect friars has, since 2021, primarily dedicated their efforts to Santa Monica Home, the promotion of vocations, and the Secular Augustinian Recollect Fraternity.
A non-governmental development organization was founded in Spain to support this project. Its offices are located in the parish of Our Lady of Buenavista in Getafe, Madrid, and in Arnedo, in the province of La Rioja.
