Read the full article by Keyshawn Davis at Sacramento Business Journal & SN&R
Several years ago, Nadia Niazi met a woman who had been homeless for 19 years. For Niazi, the experience proved life-altering as she worked to get the woman stable housing.
Through the process of helping the woman, Niazi said she started learning about the barriers that many at-risk youth face. She wanted to do her part to make a difference.
“You meet homeless people all the time, but actually helping them through and gaining housing, people don’t realize how difficult it is and what you have to go through,” she said. “And I thought, gosh, we really have to help prevent this from happening.”
Niazi believes that one path to prevention is to ensure youth have valuable skills that will assist them in the workplace. In 2018, that led her to launch Fitrah, a nonprofit social enterprise for youth ages 16 to 25. She said that Fitrah is built like stepping stones to get youth to the next levels of life, which starts with building confidence.