The Abrazando Ilusiones Foundation seeks, through multiple actions, to promote the human development and the social inclusion of the migrant community, as well as to foster citizen coexistence in the context of interculturality. To this end, the foundation develops various activities and initiatives. Some of them are the following: the provision of comprehensive training and accompaniment to unaccompanied foreign children and adolescents, the training of the professionals involved in the care of these minors in matters such as document processing, current regulations, cultural guidelines, and relational keys; teaching Spanish to asylum seekers, refugees and/or migrants in vulnerable situations and the celebration of awareness-raising dynamics, etc.
The complex reality that these minors face can affect multiple areas of their social life (training, health, regularization of their stay, employment, etc.) and have a negative impact on key aspects such as their development or the efforts aimed at promoting processes of social inclusion and the improvement of community coexistence. The situational analysis reflects the need to implement intervention strategies that adjust to the specific needs detected (many of which correspond to their evolutionary phase as children and adolescents, but others are derived from the migratory project; cultural, social, and family factors and their status as migrants), and that, in turn, can contribute to mitigating existing risks.
At the same time, it is crucial to sensitize the population about the values of cultural diversity, facilitating exchange processes in favor of a cohesive society, to train the professionals involved in caring for these minors and to promote the coordination and monitoring of the actions of the public powers and the social agents involved in order to make the best of the available resources. The foundation actively watches over these actions.
Building My Future (BMF, known as Construyendo Mi Futuro in Spanish) is a project aimed at unaccompanied foreign minors —children and adolescents— in situations of special vulnerability. The general envisaged objective is to contribute to the integral development of young people, promoting, in parallel, the processes of social and community inclusion, as well as their transition to adult life.
BMF is a comprehensive and specialized socio-educational intervention aimed at a group composed of 15 minors (between 14 and 17 years) residing in different accommodation centers in the Community of Madrid. BMF consists of multiple activities. Some of them are the following: training and skill development courses, prevention and resource provision workshops, awareness, conciliation, and coexistence days, tutorials and group dynamics, and leisure and free time activities.
BMF is a holistic intervention based on three fundamental pillars: intercultural mediation, training, and social inclusion. It is a specific project for unaccompanied foreign minors and it seeks to provide a lasting solution that responds to the needs of this group, as well as to promote their existence within the community.
BMF counts for its development not only with the experience acquired in matters of Protection of Minors during previous stages, but also with the participation of a multilingual and multidisciplinary team with extensive experience in the fields of intercultural and interlinguistic mediation, immigration, asylum, and in legal and documentary processes.
The key elements of this initiative include the optimal quality of communication with minors by using their mother tongue and the extensive experience of the teaching team in relation to their cultural keys. The purpose of these elements is to forge a solid relationship of trust, that will allow to establish the foundations for the achievement of the project objectives.
