Above & Beyond Support: Carlo’s Story
At Italian Community Services, we pride ourselves on the sense of community we share. Our community is truly like a family. We work to ensure our community is cared for and sometimes we go above and beyond to do that. Meet Carlo Tarrone, a well-known figure in North Beach. He migrated to San Francisco over 50 years ago.
Carlo Tarrone with his niece in Italy
Last year during the pandemic, his health began to worsen, and ICS was the only family he knew in the U.S. He worked hard throughout his life and became successful, and unfortunately, in his time of need, some people got involved to help and ended up taking advantage of him.
ICS jumped in to help and coordinated with his family in Italy to bring him back to them. After a year in the works, ICS director Pietro Bonanno was traveling to Italy and coordinated with Carlo’s family to accompany him to be reunited with his 88-year-old brother and 3 living nieces and nephews.
Carlo with his family in Italy, shortly after arriving.
After only 3 weeks of being home in the Alps with his family, Carlo’s health began to improve, and he could not be happier to be home with his family after the isolation he experienced during the pandemic. At ICS, we are committed to serving our community, and when possible, we go above and beyond for those in need because the ICS community is truly a family.
Though we are constantly working to ensure our community members experience the highest possible quality of care and support, ICS has never done something quite like this until now. Historically, we have provided support to those immigrating from Italy to San Francisco, assisting them in supporting themselves and their families, finding and creating opportunities, supporting each other emotionally, and building the Italian community in North Beach into what it has become today. This experience of helping a senior in need return to their family in Italy was unexpected, but we couldn’t be more willing and proud to help.
For those of you who are interested in learning more about our history, the Italian community in SF, and the history of North Beach, we are also excited to announce our partnership with Museo Italo Americano to create exhibits of the Italian Immigration to San Francisco and the early development of North Beach in two of the rooms in our historical building Club Fugazi. In the exhibits displayed in two of the Heritage rooms in Club Fugazi, historical documents and photos, some of which are deeply engrained in the history of the Italian Community Services, will be displayed. Follow us on Instagram to keep an eye out for the grand opening. In addition to becoming home for these new exhibits, Club Fugazi’s is also now home to the 7 Fingers theatre company who’ve recently debuted its show “Dear San Francisco: A High-Flying Love Story.”
The 7 Fingers in Action
If you or someone you know is in need of the local support provided by Italian Community Services, or you’re interested in volunteering or supporting our work, please visit our website or contact us to learn more.