The nun Maria Eurides Dourado began to take the first steps towards the creation of PETRAPE in 1978, but the foundation happened in 1983. The association was founded to house children at risk and abandoned by families. Keeping the charity was never easy, the nun always had to appeal, mainly to charities abroad. Even so, generations of children have been saved from the unfortunate statistics because of the work of the nun, who register young people incarcerated, maimed, sick or even killed because of abandonment.