Social responsibility

This company was facing a negative public image due to its proximity to 23 favelas located in the Raposo Tavares and Rio Pequeno neighborhoods of São Paulo, where several of its stores were established.

Following six months of work, during which we established close dialogue with leaders from various communities, we built strong ties with the head of Vila Nova Esperança, a disadvantaged community that emerged in the late 1960s in the southwestern area of São Paulo. Now pacified, the community is home to approximately 500 families and continues to face a lack of essential resources such as basic sanitation, electricity regularization, and waste collection, while also dealing with eviction pressures. Despite being an association with limited structure and funding challenges, it carried ambitious projects.

With the goal of becoming Brazil’s first “sustainable” community, Vila Nova Esperança has taken part in several large-scale environmental initiatives.

In 2015, Velours International, through a fundraising campaign, financed and carried out the construction of a children’s park in Vila Nova Esperança. This decision came naturally, as more than 600 children live in the favela without access to dedicated recreational spaces.

The park is designed to serve as a gathering place while also acting as a platform to raise awareness of environmental issues, recycling, and sustainable development.