Christmas Star of Independence

When a young person leaves institutional foster care, independence does not begin with a single decision. It begins with dozens of everyday challenges: finding a safe place to live, continuing education, paying bills, entering the job market, and managing difficult emotions without a family safety net.

Thanks to your support, the Christmas Star of Independence has provided eight young adults preparing to leave foster care with help that continues long after the holiday season.

The first stage of the project included approximately 70 practical items prepared as Starter Kits. These included household equipment and other essentials that help young people create their first safe and functional living space. Each participant also received access to a 12-month scholarship tailored to their individual situation.

The scholarships can be used for vocational and development courses, continued education, housing costs, and psychotherapy. This flexibility is essential because every participant follows a different path towards independence.

One of them is Paulina, a 22-year-old student of care and educational pedagogy. She hopes to work with deaf and hard-of-hearing children and wants to learn sign language so that she can support them more effectively.

Through the Christmas Star of Independence, Paulina received funding for a sign-language course as well as practical items for her future home. The packages arrived at a particularly meaningful moment. She later told us that, for the first time in her life, she felt truly seen.

Her story shows why this project combines financial, material, and emotional support. A household appliance or a course fee may seem like a practical expense, but for a young adult without family support, it can provide something much more important: stability, confidence, and the freedom to focus on education and future plans.

During the coming months, we will continue to follow the participants’ progress and adjust the scholarships to their changing educational, therapeutic, professional, and housing needs. We are also developing the next edition of the project so that another group of young people can receive support before they take their first steps into independent adulthood.

Thank you for helping ensure that leaving foster care does not have to mean facing adulthood alone. Your support is not only a Christmas gift. It is an investment in an entire year of growing independence.