It was a Sunday in Rome, the Feast of the Epiphany.  After five days of record low temperatures, the mercury had suddenly climbed to the mid-40s (8 Celsius) , providing some relief for the families in the Eternal City’s newest housing project by San Lorenzo cathedral.

In early December, an energetic 36 year old physician had begun living and working there, creating open spaces on the first floor of the tenement, laying out gardens in the barren interior courtyard, and laboring alongside carpenters, plasterers and painters to “make a sanctuary” for the sixty children whose lives revolved around the small government-assigned apartments at 58 Via dei Marsi.   Working as an agent charged with establishing healthcare in the district, the doctor quickly assessed that the health and welfare of the district’s children was the most urgent matter, and broadened the project’s scope accordingly.  The doctor was a woman...