Pio Istituto di Maternità

Founded in 1850, Pio Istituto di Maternità is a non-profit association based in Milano, Italy working on children & youth, community development, education.

The Pio Istituto di Maternità is a non-profit association in Milan, registered as an ONLUS and now an ETS (Ente del Terzo Settore). It was founded in 1850 by Laura Solera Mantegazza and Giuseppe Sacchi as the Pio Ricovero per bambini lattanti e slattati, widely regarded as the first nursery (asilo nido) in Milan and Italy. The institute provides economic and in-kind assistance to children, mothers in difficulty and families in need, and runs family support and housing services. Its current activities include hosting families of children receiving medical treatment in Milan, a volunteer training programme, an alternative early-childhood education project called Agrinfanzia, and the planned Parco della Vita in Cesano Boscone. It also manages properties left to it through bequests for charitable purposes. The institute recognises the Lombardy regional territory as its operating area and is governed by an assembly of members, a board of directors and a president. Its funding comes from donations, legacies, public grants and corporate sponsorships. Its legal recognition as a corporate body (ente morale) dates from a royal decree of 26 April 1866.