The objective of this research paper is to highlight the experiences and life events of the four participants regarding their institutional care. Three male and one female participants were asked to provide their input in regards to the sentiment and the experiences of their residency at the child care institutions, in semi – structured interviews. The four participants have been raised in two different institutions. Two of the participants come from the Ecclesiastic Orphanage of Vouliagmeni, while the other two participants come from the Smile of the Child. The process of the interview is an attempt to highlight their point of view about institutional care along with their personal opinions on the matter. The individuals who «benefit» from institutional care are immensely stigmatized due to the isolation and discrimination that they experience from the society.
This study gives the individuals who have reached adulthood inside the care facilities, the
opportunity to be seen, to be heard, and to narrate their experiences as well as to provide their opinions and suggestions in regards to the improvement of institutional care. It is no other than the people who grew up in the institutional care system that can contribute the most to the improvement and evolution of an obsolete system in Greece. It is them that are the most affected by the matter and they are the ones that could provide the most appropriate input regarding the improvement of the system, through their experience within it.
Let us give them the opportunity to talk about something they know experientially.