Lucas had just started at the University of Coimbra and couldn’t find a room at a price he could afford. The solution came from a project that opened the door to Zulmira’s home, 68 years old.
Lucas Cruz, 18 years old, entered the second phase of access this academic year, into the Educational Sciences course at the University of Coimbra (UC), but after the initial happiness of entering the course he wanted and what had been his His first option was the difficulty of finding accommodation, at a time when there was an increase in prices in the private rental market.
The university residences had no vacancies and the room prices he found “were not the most friendly”, the student from Esposende recalled to the Lusa agency.
“It became difficult to stay in a rented room. It was a complicated situation,” she said.
In the research he carried out looking for a solution, he found the “Abraço de Gerações” project, created in 2023, in Coimbra, through which university students can receive free accommodation in the home of an elderly person in the city and, in return, ensure company and some support with domestic tasks.
“I saw the project […] and I ended up applying. It was the best choice I made,” she said.
Then, the project team, promoted by Associação Cozinhas Económicas Rainha Santa Isabel (ACERSI) and coordinated by Teresa Sousa, came into action, carrying out a socio-economic and psychological assessment of the student and older people who want to participate in the program.
After this assessment that determines the selection or exclusion of candidates (in the case of students, assessment of personality traits; in the case of the elderly, assessment of cognitive decline, dementia and performance of activities of daily living), the team carries out a type of test compatibility between participants and contacts both parties.
Given Lucas’ urgent situation, who had already been missing classes for a week and a half because he couldn’t find a room, the team accelerated the process and Lucas and Zulmira Santos quickly found each other.
“We got along very well”, recalled the student, who, a day after that first meeting, moved to the house of Zulmira, a 68-year-old psychiatrist, recently retired and who had already signed up for the project at the end. of the 2022/2023 academic year.
Zulmira Santos remembers being a little afraid, initially, because the project suggested a boy, when “she had asked for a girl”.
“We went to the meeting and immediately I thought there was no problem, that the problems were over. Everything went well and I was worried about Lucas’ urgent situation”, recalled the doctor, highlighting that the fact that there was a project behind it, which ensured support and monitoring, gave her greater security in decision-making.
“I don’t think I could have asked for better, and for the time that’s passed, I think we get along really well and it feels like we’ve known each other for years,” Lucas said.
Zulmira corroborates: “It has been a spectacular experience. It exceeded my expectations.”
For the former clinic, it feels good to have “someone at home with whom to share aspects of life, exchange impressions, watch series”.
More than three months after they met, Zulmira speaks of Lucas as “a companion” with a “sense of humor” and who makes sure their cohabitation “goes well”.
The project not only aims to provide a housing solution for students through a simple exchange – company for a room –, but to create effective and real relationships between people of different generations.
In the case of Zulmira and Lucas, that is what is happening.
“I think it enriches him and enriches me too”, highlighted Zulmira.
photo: Lusa
On a day-to-day basis, it is the company he values most, as people with autonomy are chosen in this project, but Lucas also provides some support with “small domestic tasks”.
“Lucas is always [presente]. Do you know what they are [as tarefas em que preciso de ajuda] and there’s no need to tell him, he’s always there to know when to reach out,” he said.
Over the course of three months, in addition to the series, the two accumulate hours of conversations, as they like to talk “about everything and anything”, said Zulmira.
“We open up about things in our lives that few people know about”, added Lucas, highlighting that he sees the relationship he created with Zulmira as being “practically family”.
Teresa Sousa, project coordinator, could not be more pleased with this case.
“We are not interested in having a lot of quantity, but quality. We are happy if we integrate more people, but we are interested in the quality of the program and the relationships that are created between people who don’t know each other anywhere and, after a while, become family,” he said.
The project, at the moment, has three young people in the homes of three elderly people in Coimbra and six students evaluated and with a profile adjusted to the program, but without the capacity to respond on the other side.
To exemplify the discrepancy in demand between the two sides, Teresa Sousa recalled that they have already received around 100 applications from students and only ten from seniors since the start of the project, which gained greater attention after being supported by Meo, which provides a “ advantageous access” to packages of its services and which also aggregates the responses that exist of this type at national level on the website libertacasa.pt.
“We need more elderly people who open the door to their homes and feel confident and believe in this program, because it is a serious program, in which there is an evaluation and monitoring of the process and there is no need to be afraid”, said Teresa Sousa.
Zulmira praised the sharing built over time and pointed to things as simple as having breakfast together.
“It’s something that hasn’t been there for some time, about six or seven years ago, and this company feels very good. The house gets fuller,” she stressed.
In addition to the full house, there was also a feeling of altruism that led her to contact the project in the first hour, as soon as she read about it in the Diário de Coimbra newspaper.
“Being able to help someone who wants to study, who wants to study, gives me enormous satisfaction, being able to contribute to their future”, he highlighted.
Those interested in participating in the “Embrace of Generations” can do so through the website,articulacasa.pt, by contacting 969372028 or by email [email protected].