Since 2022, the Lapin Institute and the Elos Institute have walked together in a partnership that has already driven the revitalization of community spaces in five partner territories in the Baixada Santista region of São Paulo. The most recent chapter of this story took place on Saturday, the 18th, when the Community Center of the São Manoel Neighborhood Association was reintroduced to residents in a celebration.
Each of these spaces has been restructured to welcome children, youth, and adults more safely and with greater educational resources. These individuals bring their dreams and talents, transforming the place into an important hub for community learning and connection.
While the Elos Institute, funded by the Architecture and Urbanism Council of São Paulo (CAU/SP), has provided technical support to local leaders since mid-2024—offering both social technology guidance and financial assistance for structural renovations—the Lapin Institute has donated all the equipment and supplies needed to enhance the use of the space, which now has a renewed look without losing its historic identity of struggle. In the case of São Manoel, the transformed space is the headquarters of the neighborhood association.
In this conversation with Ana Lu Ribeiro, Project Manager at the Lapin Institute, we take a closer look at the story and the results of this partnership. For her, a community center is never just a physical space—it is a place that reveals talents, nurtures ideas, and strengthens bonds among people. Ana Lu also emphasizes its essential role in preserving memories, encouraging creativity, and reinforcing local identity by connecting different generations through shared use, which deepens the sense of community.
Ana Lu, another space transformed through this meeting of the vocations of Elos, Lapin, and the local territories. How did this meeting of purposes come about?
The partnership between the Lapin Institute and the Elos Institute began in 2022, and since then, we have walked together on a shared mission: to strengthen communities through education, culture, and local leadership. You have a deeply sensitive and technical understanding of the territories, and you consistently present us with projects of great social impact and transformative potential, like this one in São Manoel.
You, we, and our partner territories share a similar vision of community spaces, don’t we? That they are built not only from walls and bricks but also from willpower and dreams.
For the Lapin Institute, community centers are the heart of the territories. They are places that foster connection, welcome dreams, and bring together different generations. It is where learning, sharing, and community-building take place.
Beyond their social role in providing essential support and activities, they also play a fundamental cultural role: preserving memories, inspiring creativity, and strengthening local identity. By investing in these spaces, we are investing in connection and belonging—essential elements for human and collective development.
This is already the fifth transformed space since 2022. And it’s never just about delivering a new physical structure—it’s about what happens from that moment on.
By supporting the structuring of the São Manoel Community Center with the purchase of furniture and utensils, Lapin is helping to transform the space into a living environment that hosts educational, cultural, and social activities. Once equipped, it becomes more than a headquarters—it becomes a place where talents are discovered, ideas flourish, and bonds are strengthened.
And this also transforms the way people relate to the place itself, doesn’t it?
A well-equipped space inspires care, belonging, and self-esteem. It invites people to take ownership of the space and create their own projects, and that’s precisely where the vocation of the territory reveals itself. We believe that every community holds unique talents, and it is our role to provide the conditions for them to flourish.
A safer place for children, a more inviting one for young people, and a space where adults also share what they know. So much changes.
We see the impact not only in numbers but in stories: when a child has a dignified place to study, when a woman finds a new source of income through a community course, or when a young person discovers their talent in an art workshop. Transformation happens in these everyday moments. And we believe that all social change begins with concrete opportunities—and those begin when people have access to spaces for learning, community, and development, like this one in São Manoel.
We are happy to celebrate another year of partnership. We are certain this is only the beginning of a long journey together.
We would like to highlight how much the partnership with the Elos Institute represents what we believe in at Lapin: collaboration and trust between organizations in the social sector. Together, we go beyond temporary support—we build legacies. Seeing this space inaugurated and in use is proof that every social investment multiplies into real opportunities for people. For us, this result perfectly embodies the purpose of the Lapin Institute: to transform lives through education, culture, and solidarity.
—
WE CELEBRATE TOGETHER
Everything that was born from this partnership between the Elos Institute and the São Manoel territory is the result of collective effort, carried out by many hands and names: the Elos Transformers Program, Elos Tax Receipt Donors, the City of Santos, the Architecture and Urbanism Council of São Paulo (CAU/SP), Elos Giving Day, Lapin Institute, and FAM Cargo.
Without all of you—and without the São Manoel Neighborhood Association, the João Carlos Street Residents’ Association, the Jardim São Manoel Community Improvement Society, and the Bons Frutos Garden—none of this would have been possible. We celebrate each and every one of you, and we thank everyone involved.