​Our program

​As young people transition from foster care, they often lack the guidance and support that traditional or adoptive families provide. We recognize this at FITRAH and so we have adapted a training/working model combined with a mentoring program that addresses these gaps. With the right skills training, work experience, and support, we are helping young people gain a footing to live and earn independently in order to build a stable future for themselves.

​The Business job

The FITRAH program consists of two portions; work placement and mentoring. The participants are placed in paid work because at FITRAH, we believe work does work. This work experience equips them with essential skills so they are able to secure a paid job after graduating from our program. The second portion provides each participant with guidance and a personalized roadmap of the skills they need for an independent future.

As participants come on to the program, they begin to receive payment just as they would if they were in regular paid work. The security of a paid position is a central aspect of the FITRAH program as this means the participants are immediately able to pay their way.  Whilst they learn on-the-job, they also acquire new and transferable skills. Among some of the competencies that the program teaches are job readiness, financial literacy, and interpersonal skills training.

​The "Me" job

The youth also get paid to work on themselves, the "me" job.  This mentoring portion of the program focuses on creating a personal roadmap for the future which includes resume writing, interview skills, time management, as well as reaching personal milestones like obtaining an ID or opening a bank account. 
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Youths enrolled in this program benefit from one-to-one guidance, and regular meetings with an assigned mentor to track their personal development. They also have support from other participants and program alumni.
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"WORK" Business

​FITRAH youth program participants typically work a 20-hour week based at our processing facility. They manage the FITRAH online bookselling business which involves daily pickups from our donation boxes, homes, and businesses; their average day includes scanning the donated items, inventory management, shipping out books, and handling customer calls. Through this enterprise, the revenue generated from the online business offsets the cost of running this program whilst the youths learn and develop necessary skills such as timekeeping, problem solving, and teamwork that they carry away with them after they graduate.

FITRAH’s program covers the following:

• Stress Management
• Time Management
• Organizing Skills
• Decision-Making Skills
• Problem-Solving Skills
• Health Management

"me" Business

Many of our foster youth are pushed into the world without enough resources to ensure their success. Some life skills that other youngsters take for granted are not available to those who are moved from home to home so they face gaps in their knowledge and understanding that often lead to a lower self-esteem. We recognize this so our program takes a unique two-pronged approach by providing on the job skills, “Work’ business; teaching self-management skills, which we term as the “Me” business.

​Teaching self-management to each individual youth advances their independence, self-confidence, and self-awareness. The positive effects of focusing and working on each person’s sense of “Me” are far reaching and lifelong.