Atlas Insurance and its employees have raised funds through donations in aid of Dar Frate Jacoba, a residential home that provides shelter and other services to marginalised, homeless youth.

Every year #TeamAtlas collects donations towards a children’s charity and the company doubles the amount raised by employees. This year, a total of €1,890.86 was collected and presented to Fr Raymond Scicluna OFM, a Franciscan monk who runs Dar Frate Jacoba together with Fr Mark Ciantar.

The home is named after a noble lady, Blessed Jacoba of Settesoli, who helped St Francis of Assisi until his death. Fr Ray, together with an open community of lay people, provide a home with a family atmosphere to young people coming from difficult social backgrounds.

Home itself is very close to being completely self-sustaining

The home, which is the only one of its kind in Malta, is also an applied, self-sustaining school where boys aged nine and over learn a diverse skill set in preparation for their future. Its mission is to use the environment as therapy itself, teaching the students to live responsibly, and as one with the people, nature, and the environment around them.

Besides academic subjects, the residents are taught carpentry, masonry, farming and husbandry, metal and electrical work, among many other life skills. The home itself is very close to being completely self-sustaining with most of the food grown within the premises and the renovations to the building also acting as learning opportunities for the students.