Wheel-OH, the taste of independence. When inclusion takes to the road

Valentina and Federica Sorce transformed their concern for the future of their brother Giovanni into an initiative that creates real opportunities for many young people. Today the food truck is the travelling symbol of Openhouse, a project based in Fano that combines social enterprise, training, employment and personal growth

A project that today brings together inclusion, employment and social enterprise grew out of a question many families know well: 'What will happen to him when he is an adult?' In Fano, in the Marche region, on hills overlooking the sea, Openhouse has over the years become an organisation capable of offering concrete opportunities to young people with intellectual disabilities, transforming an old building surrounded by greenery into a place for training, hospitality and work. Today its most mobile expression is Wheel-OH, the social food truck that takes this experience across Italy.

The story of Openhouse began with a family experience. Valentina and Federica Sorce are the sisters of Giovanni, 25, who was born with an intellectual disability. From that bond grew the determination to create new responses, not only for him but also for other young people in the local community.

'The question about Giovanni's future grew with him,' Valentina Sorce says. 'It is a question that every family living with disability knows well. At a certain point we decided to put ourselves on the line. I was teaching English and my sister was a midwife. We left our professions to build something that responded to a need we felt very deeply.'

The cooperative was founded in 2020. The initial idea was to develop a social farming project, but the vision soon expanded. The family purchased a large property that had once belonged to nuns, surrounded by ten hectares of land. Openhouse took shape there, as a place where young people could test themselves in different settings and discover their aptitudes.

Today the project includes an organic farm, an educational farm, training pathways, a café with a kitchen, accommodation open to international tourism and, of course, Wheel-OH. Fifteen young people aged between 19 and 28 are involved in these activities, supported by educators and professionals.

'Persons with disabilities are often offered very few choices,' Sorce explains. 'We wanted to create different opportunities. If a young person tries farming, catering, hospitality or the food truck, they can understand what they genuinely enjoy doing and we can help them develop their talents.'

After two years of experience running the café, a new challenge arrived. Thanks to a fundraising campaign, Wheel-OH was purchased, a mobile kitchen designed to adapt to different events. It can become a travelling coffee bar, serve corporate breakfasts, or offer sandwiches and street food at events and major gatherings. But the project's value goes beyond work. 'The food truck allows us to move beyond the walls of Openhouse and bring our approach to inclusion into ever-new settings,' Valentina explains. 'For many of the young people, the challenge is not only working in a confined space and serving large numbers of people. It also means sleeping away from home, being apart from their families and organising themselves independently. These are experiences that help them grow.' Wheel-OH has already taken part in major events, including the Formula 1 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, where it shared the experience with other leading organisations working on employment inclusion. The most important result, however, is what happens every day. 'Our victory is seeing these young people feel part of something,' Sorce concludes, 'not simply as recipients of assistance, but as people who contribute to a real project. I think of Arun, who in two years has become the bartender at our venue. Today he prepares a spritz, takes it to the table and looks customers in the eye. For him, that was one of the hardest things. These are the achievements that make everything worthwhile.'

From a family need, a community based on work, relationships and trust was born. And Wheel-OH, constantly travelling between squares, events and gatherings, has become the symbol of a simple but powerful idea: inclusion does not mean assisting someone, but giving them the opportunity to find their place in the world.