Giovanni Calabria was born into the poor Verona family on October 8, 1873. As a young man, he felt his calling to care for orphans and abandoned children.

In 1907, he established the shelter called Casa Buonni Fraciulli in Verona, and a year later settled with his wards in the commune of San Zeno in Montagna near Verona.

To help care for orphans, Calabria formed communities, called the Congregation of the Poor Servants of Divine Providence (Congregazione dei Poveri Servi della Divina Provvidenza), and in 1910, its women's branch.

In 1932, when the congregation was approved by the local bishop, it had 150 priests and laypersons and 20 shelters in Verona, Rome, Milan, Ferrari, Vicenza and other Italian cities, and in 1947, it was approved by Pope Pius XII. Giovanni Calabria was beatified in 1988 and canonized in 1999 by Pope John Paul II.