.png)
Saliendo Juntos
Helping children, young adults, and families navigate life's major transitions through relationships, trust, thoughtful planning, and long-term support.
What is Saliendo Juntos?
Saliendo Juntos (Leaving Together) is Project Gerson’s transition program.
We help children, young adults, and families as they navigate significant changes in their lives, helping them prepare for what comes next through relationships, trust, planning, and long-term support.
A transition may begin with a decision, an opportunity, or a moment of crisis. But moving into a new environment does not automatically resolve the circumstances that brought someone there.
A plan only matters if they understands it, believes in it, and believes the people supporting them will still be there tomorrow.
The child is not the circumstance
Everyone we meet has a different story with different circumstances. Those circumstances may involve family relationships, health, education, housing, safety, employment, or connection to the community.
Our responsibility is to understand those circumstances without allowing them to define the child.
We begin by listening. We try to understand how the they see their situation, what they want for their future, who they trust, what they fear, and what might prevent a new plan from succeeding.
We help them navigate a major life transition.
We build relationships
Before recommending anything, we spend time getting to know them and the people who matter most in their life.
Trust is never built in one conversation. Many of the children and young adults we work with have experienced broken promises, inconsistent support, or adults making decisions without including them.
Before asking someone to trust a new plan, we believe it is our responsibility to earn that trust through consistent actions.
We keep our commitments.
We understand the situation
Every transition is different, even when two young people appear to be facing similar circumstances.
We work to understand the whole situation, including:
-
Their goals and concerns
-
Their relationship with their family
-
Their connection to friends and the broader community
-
Their physical and mental health needs
-
Their educational history and current opportunities
-
Their living situation
-
The events and pressures that led to the transition
-
The people and organizations already involved
-
The practical barriers that might cause the plan to fail
This process takes time. It involves conversations with them, family members, educators, medical providers, community leaders, or other adults.
We are not trying to gather information for its own sake. We are trying to understand what support will actually be needed to improve the chances of a successful transition
We plan together
A transition is not something we decide for someone else.
We work with them and the people supporting them to develop a plan that everyone can understand. That plan may continue to change as we learn more, circumstances shift, or they become more confident about what they want.
Whenever possible, they should understand:
-
Where they are going
-
Why the transition is happening
-
What the new environment will be like
-
Who will be there to support them
-
What will be expected of them
-
How they will stay connected to their family and community
-
What happens if they become afraid or want to leave
-
Who they can call when they need help
-
What comes after the immediate transition
Planning together does not mean that every person will agree about every decision. It means we communicate honestly, listen carefully, and avoid treating them as though they are being transported from one place to another without a voice in what happens.
We prepare for what comes next
Major transitions often require practical preparation.
Someone leaving one environment and entering another may not have the basic belongings they need. They may need clothing, shoes, socks, underwear, toiletries, school supplies, medication, identification documents, transportation, or other everyday items.
These needs may appear small compared with the larger transition, but they matter.
Arriving without clean clothes, proper shoes, a toothbrush, or something familiar from home can make an already frightening experience feel even more isolating.
We help identify and provide the practical items needed for the transition. We also coordinate medical care, dental care, prescriptions, educational records, transportation, family communication, and any other arrangements that may affect their person’s well-being.
We support the family
A transition affects more than one person.
Families may be worried, confused, frustrated, hopeful, or uncertain about what their role should be. Sometimes relationships are strained. Sometimes family members support the plan but do not know how to communicate with the organization or institution receiving the young person.
Project Gerson can help maintain those relationships.
With the young person’s well-being at the center, we work to establish communication between families and the people involved in the next stage of care or support. We help clarify expectations, share appropriate updates, and address concerns before misunderstandings become larger problems.
We walk alongside
Our involvement does not end when the young person arrives at the next place.
Entering a program, returning to school, beginning an apprenticeship, or moving into a new home may be an important step, but it is only the beginning of the transition.
Depending on the circumstances, that may mean:
-
Checking in with them
-
Visiting when appropriate
-
Communicating with family members
-
Coordinating with the organization providing care or support
-
Helping resolve practical problems
-
Encouraging progress
-
Providing clothing, school materials, or personal items
-
Arranging medical or dental care
-
Helping prepare for the next stage
-
Being available when the original plan needs to change
Support beyond the immediate transition
Many organizations are doing important work meeting immediate needs, and those efforts matter.
Our contribution is different.
We're interested in understanding why those needs exist in the first place and what can be learned from them. By looking for patterns, identifying barriers, and turning those lessons into repeatable programs, we hope to make it easier for the next family facing the same challenge.
The story belongs to them
Project Gerson has a story to tell.
Our story is how we think, how we build relationships, how we understand circumstances, how we develop solutions, how we work with others, and how we learn.
Each person has their own story and that story belongs to them.
Sometimes a child or young adult may choose to share part of their experience. Sometimes they may not. Sometimes a limited part of a story may help explain our process, but the person’s most difficult experiences do not become Project Gerson’s property simply because we were present.
Once they enter a new environment, much of what happens there belongs to them and to the people now supporting them. We can remain involved without treating every development as something that must be photographed, published, or reported.
Our responsibility is to tell our part honestly and to protect the dignity, privacy, and future of the person whose life is changing.
A transition program for many different circumstances
Today, some of our work may involve helping someone enter a rehabilitation or residential care program and tomorrow, the transition may look entirely different.
It could involve returning to school, beginning an apprenticeship, moving to another community, leaving an unsafe environment, preparing to live more independently, returning home after institutional care, or taking the first steps toward college or employment.
And we continue walking alongside the young person as they move toward what comes next.
Why “Saliendo Juntos”?
Saliendo Juntos means leaving together.
It reflects our belief that no one should not have to navigate a life-changing transition alone.
We cannot promise that every plan will work exactly as expected. and we cannot remove every obstacle or make difficult decisions easy.
We can promise to listen, to prepare, to communicate honestly, and to remain present.
Because a transition should not feel like being dropped off at the next place.
It should feel like someone is walking with you.