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History

The Scalabrini International Migration Network (SIMN) is an umbrella organization established in 2007, and inspired on Saint John Baptist Scalabrini. SIMN encompasses more than 250 grassroots Scalabrini entities that serve and advocate for the dignity and rights of migrants, refugees, internally displaced people, and seafarers around the world.

Saint John Baptist Scalabrini founded the Roman Catholic Scalabrini congregation in 1887 to serve Italians migrating to the Americas. For the next seventy years, Scalabrini missionaries established parishes, schools, hospitals, migrant service centers, cultural centers, orphanages, nursing homes, cooperatives, migrant associations, and service committees, with a focus on the United States, Latin America, and Europe. During the 1960s, the congregation extended its mission to all migrants and expanded its outreach worldwide. Its programs for people on the move have since multiplied, especially for the neediest and most vulnerable.

SIMN strengthens coordination and networking among Scalabrini entities and promotes political and public awareness of the needs of migrants. Scalabrini programs benefit over 600,000 people every year in 33 countries.