Trindade Community – A new beginning for homeless people

An abandoned church and a pilgrim who chose to live among the homeless people of Salvador, Bahia. This is how the Comunidade da Trindade (Trinity Community) and the Levanta-te e Anda (Get Up and Walk) Project were born, which today are benchmarks for work that goes far beyond social assistance.

The Trindade Community was born in the heart of Salvador as a shelter and a place of new beginnings in the old Church of the Holy Trinity, located in Água de Meninos, on the outskirts of the city. It became a home for men and women living on the margins of society: homeless people, people who had lost their ties, identity, or dignity.

It was founded by Brother Henrique 25 years ago. A French religious, consecrated 35 years ago to the pilgrim vocation, he is known as the Pilgrim of the Trinity and arrived in Brazil in 1989, in the city of Alagoinhas (BA).

From Alagoinhas, Henrique set out on a pilgrimage carrying only the clothes on his back and a Bible. He chose to live as a poor man among the poor, sharing his life with people living on the streets.

In March 2000, he found the old Trinity Church abandoned and felt motivated to transform the space into a place of welcome and reconstruction of life for men and women living on the streets.

With steady steps and a pilgrim's heart, Brother Henrique continues to show that true transformation begins when one chooses to walk alongside others. And the community he founded proposes a different form of work and social action, involving “presence and participation.” The Levante-te e Anda Project is not just a welfare initiative, but one that rebuilds human dignity.

In addition to food and a place to sleep, the Project offers support so that each person can “get up and walk,” that is, regain their dignity, autonomy, and connection with society.

With the strengthening of the initiative, in 2007 the Aurora da Rua newspaper was launched, produced by the community itself and sold by homeless people and volunteers as a way of generating income, autonomy, and social visibility.

The Trindade Community is a place where stories are rewritten, hope for a dignified life is rekindled, and faith walks hand in hand with the realities of life. The Levante-te e anda (Get up and walk) Project truly impacts and transforms lives:

Offering a solution to a local problem of social exclusion and invisibility (the homeless population).

• Utilizing and preserving a historical heritage site that had been abandoned.

• Promoting citizenship and a solidarity economy.

• Contributing to the personal development of those involved and to the urban environment.

Every life transformed is a sign that exclusion can give way to belonging, care, and the rebuilding of a dignified life, as in the story of Elisângela.

May the legacy of this project continue to bear fruit and inspire us to care for those most in need, give voice to the invisible, restore broken bonds, and never forget that no man or woman is alone in this world!

Photos e video: Networks Levanta-te e Anda Project