Through the implementation of the S.T.E.P. project, we aimed to achieve three main objectives: to develop a socio-emotional education program tailored to the specific needs of single parents, to support 40 parents from Romania and Portugal in strengthening their socio-emotional skills, and to enhance the abilities of 8 facilitators from the two partner organizations to use experiential, inclusive methods in working with single parents. Our broader goal was to address emotional, relational, and communication challenges faced by single parents—such as isolation, stress, and lack of support—by equipping them with practical tools and knowledge. The program was designed to be flexible and accessible, delivered in a blended format through 12 online theoretical modules and 12 face-to-face workshops. We also aimed to produce high-quality, easy-to-use educational resources, available in three languages, that would remain free and accessible online. Ultimately, we sought to improve participants' well-being and increase the capacity of both organizations to support vulnerable families in their communities.
The idea for this project arose from the desire to respond to the specific needs of single parents—a growing and increasingly vulnerable group in today’s society. In both Romania and Portugal, these parents face emotional, social, and economic challenges such as a lack of emotional support, parental stress, limited access to educational resources, and the risk of social isolation. At the same time, we wanted to develop more effective tools within our organizations for working with this target group and to gain experience in European-level collaboration. Through the S.T.E.P. project, we set out to develop an educational program tailored to these needs, to train specialists to intervene effectively, and to strengthen cooperation between organizations from two different cultural contexts.