Today, mental health is increasingly discussed, especially when it comes to young people. But between words and concrete help, unfortunately, there is still a wide gap.
The association "C’è Da Fare" was founded precisely to try to fill this void. Founded by Silvia Rocchi and Paolo Kessisoglu, it carries out concrete projects integrating sports and the hospital sector, providing a real response to often invisible distress.
We asked Silvia to tell us how it all started and what it means, today, to provide concrete help to young people and their families.
"C’è Da Fare" was born at a time when psychological distress among young people has become increasingly evident. Can you tell us about the moment or realization that made you understand it was time to intervene concretely?
The realization came in 2022, in a very concrete way, around a sporting event.
After a two-year break due to Covid, the 24 Ore di Feltre had returned, a somewhat crazy relay cycling race that lasts for 24 hours. Paolo had decided to participate with a charity team, with the idea of raising funds for a charitable cause. When it came time to decide what to allocate those funds to, also thanks to discussions with an association of friends from Genoa, he began to come into contact with data that profoundly affected him and us.
There was talk of a “silent pandemic” among young people: a significant increase in psychiatric emergency room admissions, an explosion of emotional and behavioral disorders among young people. But what truly shook us was the phenomenon of social withdrawal, the so-called hikikomori — young people who voluntarily choose not to leave their homes, sometimes not even their rooms.
At a time when the whole world was trying to return to life after the pandemic, knowing that some adolescents were choosing to withdraw from society instead seemed like a very strong signal.
As a mother of two daughters, who were even younger at the time, I felt that reality very close. We began to hear stories from friends, from friends' children, signals that we didn't yet fully understand, but that we sensed were serious.
At first, we thought it was all a direct consequence of Covid. Then, by consulting with neuropsychiatrists and hospital facilities, we realized that this suffering was a trend that had been going on for years and that the pandemic had simply acted as a detonator.
From that first event, a clear desire remained within us: not to remain spectators. Paolo had long had this drive towards concrete commitment, towards the desire to leave a mark; I — an architect by profession — joined him to give structure, concreteness, and continuity to that feeling.
If there was an emergency concerning young people, we felt that the adult world had to take responsibility. And in the face of inaction, the only possible response was one: something needs to be done.
From the initial idea to the active projects in hospitals and on the territory: is there a story, an encounter, or an episode that made you clearly feel that the association was starting to make a difference?
More than the moment we realized we were already making a difference, there was a moment when we understood that we could make one.
It happened when Paolo and I, even before formally establishing the Association, were heard by the head of Child and Adolescent Neuropsychiatry at Niguarda and by a psychologist who would later become the head of the CDF Safe Teen project. Seeing two such authoritative professionals dedicate time, attention, and trust to an artist and an architect who had decided — perhaps with a certain naivety — to get involved, was a very strong signal.
In those meetings, we perceived that the need was real, urgent. And that our desire to do something could turn into concrete, structured action, capable of truly impacting someone's life.
Then everything became tangible when the first emails arrived. Spontaneous messages, especially from parents. First in Genoa, with a project dedicated to socially withdrawn adolescents, then in Milan. Parents who thanked us not only for the clinical path but because someone was finally shedding light on a problem that many families were experiencing in silence.
When an adolescent suffers, the entire family unit suffers. And feeling recognized, heard, and accompanied is already a form of care.
Of course, sometimes the numbers may seem small. We work for months to raise funds that support a defined number of young people, and sometimes we wonder if it's enough. But then you read the story of an adolescent who, after months of isolation, finds the courage to set foot back in school. Or of a boy who, after attempting suicide, manages to say — perhaps for the first time — that life can have meaning.
These are not rhetorical phrases: these are words that truly arrive.
And in those moments, you understand that it's not just about “healing,” but about rekindling possibilities. Even a small improvement can represent a turning point, a new direction, a first step towards the future.
This is what gives us the strength to continue. Because if even one trajectory changes, then all the work, all the effort, all the energy invested find profound meaning.
In your journey, sport is often present, both as an opportunity for encounter and as a fundraising tool. From your point of view, how much can movement and sports activity help young people regain balance, trust, and a sense of being heard?
I got into sports very late in life, precisely during Paolo's first fundraising event, the 24 Ore di Feltre. At that time, I was only a spectator. Until then, I had never truly experienced sport, much less team sport.
And yet, albeit belatedly, I discovered its power. The ability to form a group. The energy that is transmitted, that contaminates, that goes beyond simple physical performance. I realized that something much deeper happens in sports: mutual trust is built, you learn to share fatigue, to support each other when energy seems to run out.
For us, sport has become fundamental. Because it is engaging, because it creates community, because — as the Latins said — mens sana in corpore sano: we talk about mental health, but mental health also comes from physical well-being. Testing oneself, overcoming one's limits, facing one's fears, helping each other through difficulties: these are all values that we feel deeply are ours.
Through sport, we can also address very delicate topics. When you run or cycle together, barriers come down. Words find space. Suffering is no longer isolated but shared. And this changes the quality of listening.
Our dream, one day, is to see some of the young people supported by our projects run or cycle alongside us. It hasn't happened yet — many are minors and are followed by hospital teams, without direct contact with us — but the idea that a young person who is currently in a moment of fragility might one day choose to be part of a team, to get involved, to feel that collective energy… is an image that accompanies us and gives us strength.
Because, in the end, that's what sport is: movement. And every path of healing, in some way, is a return to movement.
Looking ahead to 2026, which projects do you wish to focus your energy on the most, and where do you feel there is still the greatest need for attention and support for young people and their families?
We have never lacked projects and dreams, and we don't lack them for 2026 either.
On the one hand, we will continue our awareness-raising efforts with great determination, because the stigma that still surrounds mental health — judgment, prejudice, silence — is a huge obstacle. Competently, seriously, and continuously discussing these issues remains a priority for us.
On the project level, we want to strengthen the CDF Safe Teen format, the 12-month intensive and multidisciplinary outpatient care model. Born in Milan and renewed for the third consecutive year, it is now also active in Rome, Florence, the Belluno area, and, with some specificities, in Liguria.
Our goal is for it to increasingly become a reference protocol, a replicable model that other healthcare institutions can draw inspiration from, even beyond our direct financial contribution. We are on the right track: discussion tables are opening between the facilities that have adopted it, and we see enthusiasm, exchange, and collaboration. It is a model that fosters dialogue between excellences of the public system and private social organizations, creating a virtuous synergy. And this, in a historical moment like the one we are experiencing, is a very important signal.
Alongside this, 2026 will be the year of the opening of our first C’è Da Fare HUB in Milan. It will be a small space, but for us, it represents an enormous step. It will not be a therapeutic center, but a place for initial listening, orientation, and welcome. A point of reference for those who feel the need to understand whom to turn to.
One of the things we have come to understand over the years is that families and young people often don't know where to turn. The answers exist — in public, private, and social sectors — but they are not always known or easily accessible. Our desire is to offer initial guidance, a space where people feel welcomed and supported in finding the most suitable path.
Ultimately, the greatest need today is this: not to leave young people and their families alone when they ask for help. If we succeed in doing this, even in 2026, we will have taken a step in the right direction.
We recently launched the SPORTLAB x C’è Da Fare charity sport box together: how important are collaborations with sports organizations and companies that choose to actively support your projects for you?
They are fundamental.
In the sports world, we found our first supporters, including among companies. Organizations that believed in us from the beginning, supporting us when we were just starting out and helping us raise the first funds to make our projects a reality. This has immense value for us.
The values of sport — teamwork, discipline, sharing effort, loyalty — are deeply aligned with ours. But beyond sport, what matters is the message: there isn't one single way to help. Everyone can do their part. With their skills, their resources, their creativity.
The SPORTLAB x C’è Da Fare charity sport box is a very concrete example of this: transforming a product, an everyday gesture, into a real contribution to a mental health project. It is an intelligent and responsible way to put one's abilities at the service of something greater.
Over the years, I've learned an important thing: when you choose to "give", you actually receive a lot. I've lost — assuming I ever had it — the feeling of doing something for someone. Instead, I've discovered how many people and how many companies are ready to get involved generously, to believe in others, to believe in the possibility of building something together.
And this, even more than the funds raised, is a beautiful lesson.
We thank Silvia for the energy and passion she has conveyed to us in these words, and especially for the passion she puts into this project every day.
The SPORTLAB x C’è Da Fare charity sport box was created precisely with this spirit: to transform a simple gesture into concrete help for those who truly need it.
