Muccioli Andrea
Organization: San Patrignano Community
Year Founded: 1978
Country: Italy
Website: www.sanpatrignano.org
Geographic Area of Impact: .
Model: Hybrid Non-Profit
Focus: Enterprise Development,Health.
Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Italy, 2005 Schwab Fellow of the World Economic Forum Video1 Video2 The Innovation San Patrignano, the largest drug rehabilitation community in the world, welcomes young men and women with drug abuse problems completely free of charge. San Patrignano does not accept money from its guests, their families or the government. Rather, it earns its income from the wide variety of enterprises it has set up which provide those being rehabilitated with job training, a sense of meaning and dignity. Since 1978, it has provided over 20,000 people with a home, free medical, and legal assistance, as well as the possibility of continuing their studies, attending job training, and reintegrating into society. Currently San Patrignano is home to 1,700 people. Recent studies conducted by several major universities show that 72% of those who completed the programme at San Patrignano are fully reintegrated into society and remain drug-free. 71% of the people who complete the programme end up working in the field for which they have received training at San Patrignano. The relapse rate for those who complete the programme is less the 8%. Of the funds necessary to maintain San Patrignano’s guests, half comes from the profits earned through San Patrignano’s goods and services, following a principle of autonomy. The rest comes from private donors or companies that believe in the social value of the center. Background Over the last ten years, Italy, like other European countries, has experienced an exponential increase in the use of cannabis, synthetic substances, and cocaine. This increase is underestimated by public institutions. The vast majority of these agencies limit their intervention to the distribution of pharmaceutical replacements, which are, in fact, legal narcotics rendering the drug addiction chronic and do nothing to solve what is essentially a human and educational problem. Vincenzo Muccioli, an Italian with no previous professional training in drug recovery, driven by the will to understand and help young drug addicts, began approaching them in Rimini, Italy’s popular and best-known seaside resort. His San Patrignano estate soon became the home of the community, officially founded in 1978. Strategy In 1978, 20 volunteers helped Vincenzo Muccioli create the San Patrignano community. Today, there are 350 paid educators (many of whom are recovered drug addicts) and 140 volunteers who choose to share their time with the young people in the community, supporting them while they make their way through rehabilitation. To support that process, 200 professionals and consultants work with San Patrignano in its many activities. San Patrignano began with a family that decided to open its doors to other people's problems. Self-respect and respect for others, the ethics of responsibility and the spirit of helping those who are most in need are the founding principles of San Patrignano’s educational project. In the main dining room, 2,500 people can eat together in a family setting; the community produces 80% of the food. Building marketable skills is one of San Patrignano's fundamental goals. Through the years, the community has developed several high quality activities. In 1999, San Patrignano’s wines were named among the Best Emerging Wines by the Italian Sommelier Association. Since then, the Community’s wines and gourmet foods have consistently been recognized by major food and wine critics and guides in Italy and abroad. Currently, San Patrignano is developing a project (building on what has been called the “goodFOOD network”) which fosters collaboration among social entrepreneurs that help disadvantaged people to improve their lives through activities connected to food production and processing. As a result of this important collaboration, “Squisito!” was awarded the patronage of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in both 2007 and 2008 – an absolute first for a similar event. San Patrignano also produces a host of other quality goods from furniture for homes and yachts to handmade textiles, leather goods and wrought iron. It also has horse breeding and training facilities, a kennel where dogs are bred and trained and a computer and printing workshop. A medical centre with 50 beds specializes in treating the diseases related to drug abuse. San Patrignano’s database is the most important quality source of scientific data in the world for diseases related to drug addiction. San Patrignano also hosts those convicted of drug-related crimes, giving them the opportunity to follow a rehabilitation and recovery program instead of going to prison. Since 1983, thanks to its legal department, over 3,000 jail years have been replaced by trial foster care or house arrest in the community, saving the government more than 120 million euros (about US$ 148 million). Finally, San Patrignano hosts dozens of sporting, social and cultural events, including a variety of concerts, cycling and running competitions, a soccer tournament reserved to young boys coming from various Italian towns to emphasize the educative value of practicing sport activities, and national and international equestrian competitions. A new event was hosted and organized by San Patrignano in 2008, “Drugs Off Day”, brought together students that had been involved in the Community’s drug abuse prevention campaigns, important figures in the world of politics, entertainment and business, as well as Best Practices and NGOs working on a variety of social issues. The Entrepreneur Andrea Muccioli, firstborn of San Patrignano’s founder Vincenzo Muccioli, holds degrees in both Sociology and Law. After his father’s death in 1996, he took over the responsibility for overseeing and coordinating all of the community’s activities. Along with the rest of his family, he has forsaken all rights to his family fortune, donating them to the community, where he works as a volunteer.
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