On September 29th- 30th, METAdrasi hosted the Belgian Organization Minor Ndako in the context of an exchange of know-how for the activity “Supported Independent Living for unaccompanied minors”, a highly successful alternative form of support for unaccompanied minors aged 16 to 18. Minor Ndako has extensive experience in this activity, while METAdrasi introduced this model for the first time in Greece in 2018.
In the context of the Roundtable titled “Supported Independent Living – A new SILosophy for alternative accommodation”, other Organizations that have started implementing this model in Greece (Praksis, ARSIS, IRC) or are interested in starting, as well as Organizations from aboard such as Nidos from the Netherlands, participated via the internet. Participants had the opportunity to exchange views, to present the model of Supported Independent Living as implemented in Greece and Belgium, having a fertile discussion about similarities and differences, challenges and good practices.
Emphasis was placed on continuing the support for the children after their coming of age, a model followed not only in Belgium, but also in other countries. In Greece, there is a huge gap in this domain. METAdrasi has highlighted several times the need to continue the support for these children. With our own resources we provide housing and cover the basic needs of 22 teenagers, most of them are recognized refugees, who became adults and continue school or have already received their diploma and continue their education in order to acquire professional skills in the subject of their interest.
The colleagues from Belgium had the opportunity to visit minors who have joined the Supported Independent Living scheme and the apartments for 18 +, where teenagers and young adults talked about their everyday life, how they see their future, how they have developed their skills and how much this programme has helped them learn to cook, take care of and keep their living space clean, live in harmony with their housemates and feel like they have a normal life like any other teenager.
Supported by the Fund ‘Never Alone – Building our future with children and youth arriving in Europe’ of the European Programme for Integration and Migration (EPIM), a collaborative initiative of the Network for European Foundations (NEF).
The sole responsibility for the project lies with the organiser(s) and the content may not necessarily reflect the position of EPIM, NEF or other Foundations contributing to the Fund.