Upon reaching the age of 18, young people who have been in residential care or guardianship are no longer protected and are forced to become adults overnight.

Among others, they face a number of problems:

• There are no places foreveryone in transitionto adult residences.
• The difficulty of finding a housing solution, a job and the impossibility of financing their studies places them in a position of vulnerability, added to their limited support network and their lack of knowledge of how "the world works" after so many years of institutionalization. 
• In emergency situations , they do not know where to turn and what rights and assistance are available to them. 

An adult must be responsible for everything that concerns him/her: housing, income, food, health, administrative procedures ... what happens when they do not have the resources to support themselves? or when they do not know what to do?

Being an adult is not easy. The average age of emancipation from the family home in Spain is 29 years old and most young people spend their first years of adulthood training, supported by their families. 

In this sense, the ex-custodians are in a situation of double vulnerability: not only has their childhood been hard and traumatic, but their first years as adults must focus all their efforts on survival.

The project

Soñar Despierto wants to contribute to making the exit of these young people from the child protection system as atraumatic as possible and to provide them with a support network during the first years, until they manage to "take off".

And why us? Because in most cases, we are their NGO of reference. Children in residential care grow up with Soñar Despierto and Soñar Despierto wants to continue to be with them when they leave the centers, because we know that in these transition years is when they probably need us the most.

With this purpose "El Cohete" was born, a project that seeks to accompany them in their "take-off" to adult life, covering all the needs they may face.

How it works

Daydreaming is open to assisting any of its clients:

• Whether or not he/she has been in contact with the Foundation during his/her minority
• Has been in residential foster care in Madrid or in any other autonomous community
• Be between 18 and 23 years old (or 25 in the case of young mothers)

For all of them, Soñar Despierto has detected a multitude of needs and, thanks to a fantastic team of volunteers, will meet them:

• Job search support
• Support in applying for social assistance
• Accompaniment in early motherhood
• Health care (coverage of certain urgent needs not covered by Social Security)
• Legal advice

Location

So far, the volunteers leading the project are all in Madrid and most of the young people served are also in Madrid.