Listening
A space to talk without having to justify yourself, even just to work out whether there is something to worry about.
Together, one piece at a time
Listening, guidance and peer support for anyone struggling with food, with their body and with their weight
Find out moreScroll to see everything
1The City of Casa Martino
A city built one piece at a time
This is not just any map: it is Caserta as we see it, with the places that shaped our story and the people who are still writing it. Every initiative adds a piece. Every person adds a piece.
Casa Martino is not a finished picture. In three years this drawing will probably look different, and that is fine: if it has changed, it means we have grown. The empty spaces you see are not missing pieces — they are free spots, kept aside for whoever is yet to arrive.
The places
- Casa Martino
- The heart of the city: our offices at Via San Carlo 125, Caserta. Everything else starts here.
- The letterbox
- A real letterbox we would like to build and place next to our door: for anyone who would rather leave a couple of lines without saying who they are.
- Bourbon Quarter, Casagiove
- The Biblioteca Parlante hall: this is where VIVITI la VITA was born. The map does not only show where we are, but also where we started from.
- The Royal Palace of Caserta
- The landmark everybody recognises. It is here because this is home: Casa Martino comes from Caserta and works in Caserta.
- The old village of Casertavecchia
- December 2015, «Accendiamo in Borgo»: one of the very first initiatives, back when the association did not exist yet.
- Crocheting in progress
- The sign from that village initiative: inside the triangle, a little character crochets with a ball of yarn.
- The lavender fields
- Home of RITROVARSI: a day of wellbeing outside any clinical setting, where nature becomes a meeting place.
- The 2029 Puzzle Box
- This is where we symbolically keep the pieces of our journey. In 2029, with the new committee, the box reopens and whoever has joined in the meantime will add theirs.
The people
- Tilde and Zola
- The President with her dog, out for a walk beside our offices. Because a serious story can start with a walk.
- The 7 Anonymous
- Seven faceless figures: the people who came close without giving their name. They count, and they owe nobody an explanation.
- Tilde and Pepper
- Pepper is the little robot from a neurological experiment in mental training: the idea that technology can become a way to involve young people.
- The Panda
- The President's car, the one that does the real mileage between one meeting and the next. It may yet become a school project.
The pieces still free
- A space for sponsors
- Shops, squares and small buildings to be dedicated to those who choose to support us. For now it is a coloured but empty piece.
- A space for institutions and patronages
- For the bodies and institutions that will walk with us. It will be filled in as soon as there is something true to write on it.
- A space for those who want to always be there
- Deliberately left empty: it is the spot for those who choose to always be there and support us over time, as members, volunteers or friends of Casa Martino.
2About us
From lived experience to peer support
Our story
Casa Martino ODV is a Caserta-based organisation working on vulnerability, psychological distress, eating disorders and obesity, with particular attention to people who have been through weight-loss journeys and bariatric surgery.
It was born out of lived experience and the will to turn it into awareness, into the strength to change and into respect for one's own fragility. No judgement, no stigma.
One thing straight away: Casa Martino did not start with this website. For three years we ran activities, built relationships and carried our work forward without one. The site is not the beginning of the story — it is simply where we finally get to tell it.
Our mission
To welcome, to guide, and to talk about all this in language people can actually understand.
Guidance
Helping the need surface and helping you reach the right person: the right service, the right specialist, the right local resource.
Awareness
Talking about eating disorders, obesity and mental health in schools, in the street and in the media, to get stigma out of the way.
Our journey: from the beginnings to Casa Martino ODV
Ten years of initiatives, meetings and relationships across the area. Some milestones came long before the association itself.
1. The roots of the project – 2015-2022
A journey born from personal experience, from getting together and from the wish to build relationships.
- 2015From Caserta: the first community event, back when the project was still called Eudemonìa.
- 2015Accendiamo in Borgo di Casertavecchia: an initiative held together with the «Uncinettare in corso» page.
- 2022C’è Gusto – Io ci metto la faccia: at Villetta Giaquinto, looking for people willing to help found the association.
- 2022Sommana: a presentation of the Eudemonìa project and the involvement of the first members.
2. The birth and activities of Casa Martino ODV – 2023-2026
The journey becomes an association and grows through activities, meetings and initiatives in the local area.
- 2023Casa Martino ODV is established: on 4 March the volunteer organisation is formally born.
- 2023Lilac Ribbon Day: at the University of Naples, the President shares her personal testimony.
- 2023The Listening Desk opens: at the association’s offices, for welcome, listening and guidance.
- 2024«Be a bystander, but with a protagonist’s eyes»: a prevention meeting for young people and families.
- 2024«Parenting told by parents»: an initiative under the free patronage of the Order of Psychologists.
- 2024Le Ali Sociali: taking part in the programme on eating disorders on Radio Caserta TV.
- 2024Training at the Benevento local health authority (ASL): the President attends the course «Feeding and eating disorders: rehabilitation interventions in FEDs», on 27 June.
- 2025Casagiove library: Tiziana Barrella’s book launch and the «Body, Heart and Mind» workshop.
- 20255×1000 donations: it becomes possible to give the 5×1000 tax share to Casa Martino ODV.
- 2025 – 2026The President has started a path of study and training in Peer Support, aiming to gain the skills to make the most of lived-experience knowledge.
- 2026Ritrovarsi: an initiative at Fattoria Frattini, with music therapist Elena Virgallita.
- 2026VIVITI la VITA: the project «Between nature and awareness: the journey from fragility to strength, from self-care to rebirth in the community» is born.
The patrons of VIVITI la VITA
The bodies and institutions that have granted their patronage to the event. They are the network we walk with, and today one of our main resources.
- Assovoce
- Osservatorio della Dieta Mediterranea
- UOSM Caserta
- OMCeO
- OPRG
- Comune di Casagiove
The President and the group
Casa Martino is a young organisation, with modest resources and a still small group. We would rather say so than hide it.
Clotilde De Rosa
President and Visionary
Monica D'Errico
Vice-president · Accountant
Armando De Rosa
Treasurer · Accountant
Dott.ssa Elisabetta Lerro
Secretary · Psychologist
As of 2026 there are 10 of us volunteering.
We only publish the elected officers here, because those are institutional roles. We do not put individual volunteers' names online: they are private people, and choosing to be recognised is up to them.
Experience and peer support
For us, experience is not only testimony: with the right training it can become a real resource for someone else.
Recovery
Not «going back to how things were», but building a life worth living, fragility included.
Empowerment
Taking back the words and the decisions about your own path, instead of having them handed to you.
Peer support
Someone who has been there listens to someone who is there now. Being able to say «I know» and be believed changes everything.
Experiential knowledge
What you learn by living something first-hand: different from professional knowledge, and not in competition with it.
Our President, who has been through these journeys herself, has started a path of training and study in Peer Support, taking part in training initiatives in Caserta. Her aim is to make the most of lived-experience knowledge and to deepen the skills needed to contribute to listening, accompaniment and recovery, with respect for the roles and professions involved.
Casa Martino ODV promotes the value of lived experience, listening and mutual support. The association's activities are inspired by the principles of peer support and Recovery, without attributing to its volunteers professional qualifications they have not obtained.
The people and the characters in our story
The little figures walking across the map are not decoration: they are the people of Casa Martino.
They are drawn deliberately as silhouettes, with no recognisable faces. Not because we lack photographs, but because nobody should find their own face on a website about vulnerability without having chosen it. Anyone who wants to be recognised will do so in their own time.
The 7 Anonymous
Seven figures with no face and no name. They are the people who came close to Casa Martino without introducing themselves: a phone call, a message, a question left half-asked. They count exactly as much as everyone else, and they owe nobody an explanation.
3What we talk about
Food, body and weight: let's clear things up
Here is what we work on, in plain words. It is not meant for self-diagnosis: it is meant to make the terms clear and, if something here sounds familiar, to let you know it can be talked about.
What obesity is
A health condition in which the body stores an excessive amount of fat, which can raise the risk of certain health problems.
Obesity is not simply about eating too much. It can depend on many different factors: genetics, diet, physical activity, sleep, environment, some medicines and other health conditions.
What health problems it can bring
- High blood pressure and a higher risk of heart and circulatory disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Joint pain and problems such as osteoarthritis
- Sleep apnoea, that is pauses in breathing during sleep
- Certain respiratory problems
- Liver problems, such as fatty liver
- A higher risk of some types of cancer
- In girls and women, an irregular or absent menstrual cycle, sometimes linked to polycystic ovary syndrome
A person is not their weight. Obesity is a health condition; it does not mean being lazy, weak or short on willpower.
The seven feeding and eating disorders
There are seven of them, and they are different from one another. Knowing their names is already a way to stop feeling «wrong».
Our relationship with food, with our body and with our own image can sometimes become a source of suffering. Feeding and eating disorders are not simply «eating too little» or «eating too much»: they are conditions that can involve thoughts, emotions, behaviours and relationships.
They can show up in many different ways and can affect people of any age, gender and body shape. It is not always possible to recognise them from how a person looks.
Anorexia nervosa
I eat very little because I am afraid of putting on weight.
Bulimia nervosa
I eat a lot, I lose control, then I try to compensate.
BED — Binge eating disorder
I eat a lot and lose control, but I do not compensate.
ARFID — Avoidant/restrictive food intake disorder
I avoid or restrict food, but not out of fear of gaining weight: it can be disgust at certain foods, fear of feeling ill, or little interest in eating.
Pica
I eat things that are not food: soil, paper or chalk, for example.
Rumination disorder
After eating, food comes back up into the mouth and may be chewed again and swallowed, or spat out.
OSFED — Other specified disorder
There are significant eating problems, but not all the criteria for one of the diagnoses above are met. Atypical anorexia is one example.
Other problems with food and body image
Not all problems with food, weight and the body are the same. Some are mostly about how we see our own body.
Bigorexia (muscle dysmorphia)
«I'm not muscular enough. I have to get even bigger.» A person can already be very muscular and still feel far too slight.
Body dysmorphic disorder
«There is something wrong with the way I look and I can't stop thinking about it.» One part of the body is seen as ugly or wrong, even when it looks perfectly normal to others.
Drunkorexia
«I'm drinking tonight, so I'll eat less today.» Skipping food or exercising heavily to offset the calories in alcohol.
Drunkorexia is not an official diagnosis: it is a term used to describe a set of behaviours. They are risky all the same, and they deserve attention.
Scientific and institutional sources
- Italian Ministry of Health – Disturbi della Nutrizione e dell’Alimentazione (in Italian)
- Italian National Institute of Health (ISS) – Guida ai servizi territoriali per la cura dei Disturbi della Nutrizione e dell’Alimentazione, 2024 update (in Italian)
- World Health Organization – Mental disorders (fact sheet, Eating disorders section)
- National Institute of Mental Health – Eating Disorders: What You Need to Know
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases – Binge Eating Disorder
- American Psychiatric Association – DSM – Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
4Listening desk
The first step can be a very small one
You do not need to have it all worked out, or to know the name of what is happening to you. Just write or call.
How it works
Four steps, none of them compulsory: you stop wherever you like.
1. You get in touch
By email, by phone or through the form below. You can do it without saying who you are.
2. We listen
A first conversation, unhurried and without judgement, to understand together what is going on.
3. We point the way
If a professional or a service is needed, we help you work out which one and how to reach it.
4. You are not left alone
We stay reachable afterwards too. That is exactly what peer support is for.
The letterbox
In a world where messages leave in a second, we would like to rediscover the pleasure of not being in a hurry.
Next to the Casa Martino offices we would like to build a real letterbox, where anyone can leave a couple of lines: a thought, a wish, a word, a story. Even without saying who they are.
Because some words need time to be written, to be entrusted, and perhaps also to arrive.
Here messages will not travel at the speed of WhatsApp. They will travel at the speed of a pigeon. Which, incidentally, can reach about 74 km per hour… but we will kindly ask it to slow down.
Because RITROVARSI also means this: slowing down, breathing, writing calmly, letting a word go and waiting for it to find its way.
A letterbox to remind us that not everything has to arrive straight away. Some things, to truly arrive, need time.
What you will actually find
Listening Desk
Running since 2023 at our offices: welcome, listening and guidance. It is free and no paperwork is needed.
Sportello Amico
A direct line to the President, for anyone who would rather speak to one single, familiar person.
We do not diagnose and we do not treat: we are not a health service and we have no intention of replacing one. What we do is listen, help bring the need into focus and accompany people towards local professionals and services.
5Activities
What we do together
Talks, workshops and open days. Almost all of them started with a question somebody asked us.
Awareness
Public events, information stands and media appearances to talk about eating disorders, obesity and mental health without stigma.
Schools and young people
Programmes with schools and young people, workshops and prevention talks: education meets volunteering, and the other way round.
Families
«Parenting told by parents» and the meetings for those standing beside someone who is struggling.
Experiential workshops
Creative activities, music, movement and handmade crafts: different ways to express ourselves, meet and feel well together.
6VIVITI la VITA
Between nature and awareness: the journey from fragility to strength, from self-care to rebirth in the community
Freely inspired by Kahlil Gibran. An event where people meet people.
An event conceived by the President of Casa Martino ODV, Clotilde De Rosa, born from her own journey of recovery and awareness and from the association’s mission: supporting and accompanying people who live a complex relationship with food, with or without obesity.
Two days of talks, testimonies and discussion on nutrition, eating disorders, obesity, mental health, recovery, wellbeing and inclusion.
A place where people meet people, where doctors, professionals and citizens meet as equals, sharing knowledge, experience and humanity.
Everyone has their own story with food.
There are no right or wrong stories:
there are stories that deserve to be heard.From fragility to awareness.
From awareness to strength.
From strength to community.LET’S LIVE LIFE.
Two days in Casagiove
VIVITI la VITA comes from a simple idea: a person cannot be reduced to their fragility, their illness, their role or their profession. Doctors, psychologists, nutritionists, associations, teachers, artists and citizens meet each other as people first.
03:00 PM – 07:00 PM
Doors open at 2.30 pm
Sala Biblioteca Parlante — Quartiere Militare Borbonico, Casagiove (CE)
09:00 AM – 01:00 PM
Doors open at 8.30 am
Sala Biblioteca Parlante — Quartiere Militare Borbonico, Casagiove (CE)
And then… let's turn up the volume!
Music will be a living presence throughout VIVITI la VITA: songs chosen in tune with the themes of the event and musical moments woven into the seminars too. But we wanted to do something more.
Friday 16 October 2026, late afternoon
A real live concert with two young bands, Senja and Wave Z, bringing their energy and their original songs to the stage. Two generations, different languages, one single place.
Sala Biblioteca Parlante — Quartiere Militare Borbonico, Casagiove (CE)
VIVITI la VITA does not only want to speak to people: it wants to bring them together. And on Friday it wants to get them singing and dancing too.
A wish that looks ahead
RITROVARSI
Nature as a space for meeting, connection and shared wellbeing: a day in a lavender field, outside any clinical setting.
How the day is shaped
- Welcome and a shared meal
- A sensory walk through the lavender
- Mindful breathing
- Gentle yoga
- Music therapy
- Meditation and closing relaxation
This summer we lived a special day among nature, lavender and wellbeing. A sensory walk between the rows, breathing, gentle yoga, music, relaxation and creativity turned a simple day into a beautiful, intense and deeply relaxing experience.
It was an experience that left us with something more: a new wish to nurture. Because perhaps this is the beauty of being dreamers: imagining what is not there yet. And becoming visionaries means trying, step by step, to turn that dream into something that can really happen.
This is why we want to offer this experience again next year, leaving open the possibility of sharing it, when it is possible and respecting each person's own pace, also with girls who are going through a course of treatment.
Walking among the lavender, breathing in its scent, pausing, creating with our own hands, being together. This year we lived an experience and planted a wish. Next year we would like to turn it into a shared wish and see it walk among the lavender.
Because dreams, when someone decides to take care of them, can begin to come true.
A wish that looks ahead.
Breathe in the sun. Listen to nature. Let the lavender bring you back to what matters.
7How we think
Doing philosophy starting from simple things
The ideas that guide us come from everyday life and from the association's own history.
Eudaimonia
The name our organisation used for many years before it became Casa Martino.
Eudaimonia is a Greek word usually translated as «happiness», but it means something more precise: being well in the sense of living a life that has meaning, not of feeling cheerful. It is a state you build, not a mood that happens to you.
Before becoming Casa Martino, our organisation was known as Eudemonìa for many years: from the first initiatives in 2015 through the journey that led to the association's birth. The name changed, but the underlying idea remained the same: helping to build a life with meaning and value.
8News
Notices and events
Meetings, appointments and services currently running. Updated as things happen.
VIVITI la VITA — day one
Between nature and awareness: the journey from fragility to strength, from self-care to rebirth in the community. Doctors, psychologists, nutritionists, associations, teachers, artists and citizens meet each other as people first. Doors open at 2.30 pm.
VIVITI la VITA — day two
A morning devoted mainly to schools and young people, with meetings, testimonies and discussion. Doors open at 8.30 am.
VIVITI la VITA — the concert
Reflection gives way to the energy of rock: a live concert with the young bands Senja and Wave Z and their original songs. To meet, sing and dance together.
Listening Desk
Welcome, listening and guidance at our offices. It is free, no paperwork is needed, and you can start without giving your name.
We are looking for volunteers
We are a small group and there is room for anyone who wants to help: welcoming people, events, communication, workshops. No expertise required.
9Documents
Institutional documentation
Casa Martino ODV makes its institutional and administrative references available. For transparency and verifiability, the association’s official data can be consulted through the Italian National Register of the Third Sector (RUNTS).
1. RUNTS registration
Casa Martino ODV is listed in the National Register of the Third Sector, in the Volunteer Organisations (ODV) section.
- Name
- Casa Martino ODV
- Tax code
- 93131570611
- Date of incorporation
- 03/04/2023
- Registration measure, as reported by the association
- Decreto n. 614 del 04/08/2023
Opens the official portal of the Italian Ministry of Labour. To search, enter the tax code 93131570611 in the relevant field.
2. Statute
The current statute sets out the aims, organisation and operating rules of Casa Martino ODV. It can be consulted through the public documentation available in the RUNTS.
3. Deed of incorporation
Casa Martino ODV was formally established on 4 March 2023. The deed of incorporation is kept in the association’s records and can be consulted through the public documentation available in the RUNTS.
4. Accounts and financial reports
Financial and administrative documents are filed with the RUNTS according to the obligations and deadlines set by current law.
5. Activity reports
This section will be progressively updated with reports on the association’s activities and projects.
10Support us
Your support makes the difference
Donate
We are a small organisation with modest resources: every contribution turns into an actual activity straight away.
Volunteer
Welcoming people, events, communication, workshops: what we need is time and ideas, not a CV.
Spread the word
Talking about these things without stigma is half the work already. Share what we publish.
11Contact
Write to us, even without saying who you are
You can choose who your message goes to. And you can send it without leaving a name or an email address.
- Via San Carlo 125
81100 Caserta (CE) - 0823 170 3238
- eudemoniafelicita.2022@gmail.com
The landline is diverted to the President’s mobile and there are no office hours: call whenever you like. If we do not pick up right away it is because we are busy with someone, not out of indifference: leave a message or try again, and we will call you back.
Follow us
Casa Martino is not a finished picture: it is a city that grows, a puzzle being built, a door you can walk through even if you are not ready to show yourself yet.