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City government inaugurates first women's residence for young people in vulnerable social situations.
Published on 10/03/2026 - 11:26 | Updated
The residence offers temporary housing to six women who were in institutional care - Renan Areias/SMAS The Rio de Janeiro City Hall, through the Municipal Secretariat of Social Assistance (SMAS), inaugurated, on Monday (March 9th), the Elza Soares Youth Residence in the North Zone. The space, aimed at women aged 18 to 21 in situations of social vulnerability, is the first in the municipality to serve the female public. Since 2021, the Junior Heleno Barros de Antão Youth Residence has existed in the city, currently located on Rua Sorocaba, in Botafogo, in the South Zone.
The Elza Soares Republic, located on Visconde de Jequitinhonha Street in Rio Comprido, offers temporary housing to six women who were in institutional or family foster care and have reached adulthood without having been adopted. These are cases of young women with broken family ties and who still lack the socioeconomic means to support themselves.
– The purpose of this type of shelter is to offer protection in a safe place and promote the autonomy of these young women, with support so that they can study, work and learn to manage their lives, including financially, and rebuild family ties, when possible – explained the municipal secretary of Social Assistance, Martha Rocha.
The residents live together in the same house, take care of their responsibilities – studies or work – and are responsible for managing their lives independently. They receive support from SMAS, which provides food and assigns social work and psychology professionals to provide daily support. The young women receive guidance on their rights to social benefits and opportunities for courses and jobs.
Maria Isadora da Costa, or Isa, has spent the last five years in the Foster Family program of SMAS. At 18, she is in her second year of high school and works as a young apprentice at the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz). She has a dream: to be a lawyer.
– I was nervous when I found out I was coming here to the student residence, because of the challenge of living alone, but I was also very happy. This vote of confidence that is being given to us, this opportunity, is very important.
The recent turning of 18 has brought similar feelings to her classmate Sthefany Augusto Salinas, known as Tetê. A 3rd-year high school student, previously housed in an institution, she says she is adapting to this new phase:
– At first, when I turned 18, I was very scared. Now, I'm getting used to it. I'm studying, and I'm going to start a selection process for the Young Apprentice program. It's happening gradually.
A tribute to a symbol of female empowerment.
The choice of Elza Soares' name for Rio's first women's residence for young people was no accident. The idea of the Municipal Secretariat for Social Assistance (SMAS) was to honor the singer, who died in 2022 at the age of 91, for her life of overcoming adversity and her identification with the struggle of women for gender equality, independence, and resistance. A framed photo of the singer decorates one of the walls of the house, with a quote from Elza: “We need to be raised for freedom. The world is too big for us not to be who we are.”
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