“You Are Not Alone”: ALMA Provides Young Italians with the Tools to Power Up Their Lives

In a quiet Italian town, where expectations for young people are not so high, Gaia Zema felt as though she had reached a dead end.

“My family has always lived in a somewhat complicated situation,” she says. “Before I turned 18, I attended a youth center that offered educational support.”

But even after leaving, she remained connected with her former educators from the non-profit organisation Vedogiovane, who told her about ALMA. And it was this thread of connection that would one day change everything.

An Opportunity for Something More

The former educators told Gaia about Power UP, one of the projects under the ALMA initiative, which stands for Aim, Learn, Master, Achieve. This initiative is specially designed to help young people who are not in employment, education, or training, providing them not just with skills but also a second chance.

With a structure designed to empower young people, ALMA offered a unique three-stage journey: local training at home, a supervised work-related learning experience in another European country, and follow-up support from mentors upon return. At the time, Gaia wasn’t doing much, so she thought, Why not?

“I participated because I wasn’t doing anything, and it seemed like a good opportunity,” she admits. But her deeper reason was more personal: “I knew the educators of Vedogiovane, and this made me feel safe because I trusted them.”

Trust, it turns out, was the first step.

From Nails to the Cathedral

Gaia had trained to become a beautician with a special interest in nail reconstruction. She hoped Power UP would give her the chance to explore that path further. But the experience led her somewhere entirely unexpected.

“In Italy, I had a difficult experience in the beauty sector,” she shares. “I didn’t really enjoy being around others too much.” But ALMA encouraged her to try again. The Power UP experience began with months of tailored preparation in Italy, including language lessons, soft skills training, and workshops such as CV writing. After that, Gaia travelled to Spain for a work-related learning experience to put her knowledge into practice.

At first, she worked in a beauty centre in Barcelona, which confirmed her doubts and helped her realise something very important: “I finally understood that it wasn’t my path,” she says.

Then, her journey took a turn. She got the opportunity to try something different and work at the famous Cathedral of Barcelona. That was when something inside her shifted.

Amid centuries-old stones and hushed reverence, Gaia discovered a new passion – culture and hospitality. She worked, observed, learned, and wasn’t just surviving anymore. She was curious, engaged, and felt alive.

“Living alone and being away from my usual environment helped me discover that I was not wrong,” she says. “It confirmed my notion that it wasn’t me that is the problem, but the difficult context I live in.”

After the work-related learning experience had finished, Gaia returned home to Italy, bringing with her the realisation that would change the course of her life.

“I came back home with a new awareness, and I am happy to be back,” she reveals.

Thanks to ALMA, Gaia found motivation to apply for Italy’s Universal Civil Service and was accepted. It was something she never thought possible. Today, Gaia works at the Marazza Foundation, supporting library activities and cultural events.

“The fact that I was accepted into the civil service was a surprise. I didn’t expect it. But now I discovered that I can do it,” she says.

Mentorship That Moves Mountains

What made the transformation possible wasn’t just the training or the work-related learning experiences. It was the people – mentors, educators, and peers – who stood by Gaia and the other participants when they needed it most.

While in Barcelona, she stayed in contact with her psychologist. “The Vedogiovane educators were in touch with her, and it made me feel supported,” she says. That sense of support, both at home and abroad, was a lifeline.

Rosy Sinicropi, project coordinator of Power UP at Vedogiovane, sees this as the initiative’s true strength.

“The possibility of having an opportunity like this is fantastic, because ALMA does not require young people to have skills – just the desire to try,” she explains. “For participants, experiencing it in a supported environment is the project’s greatest strength.”

The initiative offered a successful model, with 17 participants completing the entire experience. The final outcomes have been equally impressive: participants have gone on to become au pairs, employees, freelancers, or have enrolled in university or vocational training courses.

“You Are Not Alone”

For Gaia, the transformation wasn’t loud or dramatic. It was quiet, internal, and deeply personal. She learned how to manage anxiety, how to be around people, and how to move forward with courage.

“I gained more confidence in myself, learned to speak English and Spanish, and realised that I wasn’t interested in working in the world of aesthetics. It gave me clarity,” she reflects.

When asked what she would say to others considering the ALMA initiative, her answer is immediate: “In my opinion, it’s an experience worth doing because you are not alone. There is always someone who gives you a hand, both at home and abroad, from peers to adults.”

There is power in that sentence. You are not alone. It is the heartbeat of ALMA and a united Europe, working across borders to lift its young people out of isolation, offering not just work-related learning experience but renewed purpose.

A Future Built on Possibility

As she looks ahead, Gaia isn’t making rigid plans: “Now I want to do my year of civil service and see what happens,” she says.

But there is no longer anxiety in that uncertainty – just quiet hope and the calm of someone who has finally found her footing.

Initiatives like ALMA, co-funded by the European Union through the European Social Fund Plus Social Innovation+ initiative, remind us that sometimes what young people need isn’t a miracle: just a chance, a guide, and a little time away to see themselves.

In the words of Rosy Sinicropi: “Not only do the numbers tell us the experience was positive, but also from a qualitative point of view. We’re still in touch with many of the participants, who learned that support exists, and that it doesn’t end when the project does.”

And in the words of Gaia, spoken with new clarity: “I discovered I was not wrong, I was just in a difficult environment.” No, she wasn’t wrong. She was just waiting to bloom – and ALMA made it possible.

Learn more: Power UP project

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