Social House was founded in 1998 as an ethnic restaurant with the objective of financing projects of the Erythros association, in particular, the “Invisible City” project (assistance and integration of female victims of prostitution). It soon became a meeting place for different cultures, especially the ethnic groups of greatest immigration to Italy.

In the kitchen and dining rooms, Italian and foreign volunteers were able to meet and share experiences. Within the Social House project, the first labor insertions were successfully attempted of women who had escaped from the world of prostitution.
The will to offer employment opportunities for the disadvantaged, the main target group of Erythros, was an innovative aspect of the project.

The restaurant was located in Rome’s San Lorenzo neighborhood and served Eritrean, Ethiopian, Arab, and Brazilian specialties, as well as promoted opportunities for cultural exchange and “contamination.”

After the dinner hour, the restaurant opened its doors for exhibitions and guitar and jambé jam sessions. The restaurant was available by reservation for other special events such as dinners, ethnic or immigrants’ association meetings, book or CD signings, and for other initiatives that matched the Erythros Association’s ideals of solidarity, multiethnicity and social and cultural contamination.

At the heart of the “Social House” project was Erythros’ conviction to promote opportunities of encounter to facilitate reciprocal understanding, an essential component to social integration for vulnerable or weaker members of society, in particular the immigrant community. Erythros believes that prejudice – the father of all forms of racism and discrimination –can only be conquered through the promotion of mutual understanding and respect.