Helping Orphaned Teens Thrive: Flint Launches Thriving Skills Program in Colombia
by Justin Sims, Thriving Skills Director
August16, 2021
Flint’s new Thriving Skills program equips young people around the world to learn the necessary skills to live on their own and to connect them with jobs so they can support themselves. Our partner organization in Cali, Colombia, Fundación Dar Amor (“Fundamor”) and supporters like you were vital to making the program possible.
This year’s pilot program welcomes sixteen talented and dedicated young adults, ranging from 18-28 years old, who grew up in orphanages or foster care homes close to the city of Cali. This year’s program invited young people like…
Tatiana
Tatiana has a technical degree in child psychology and volunteers with a local foundation where she works with teenagers struggling with substance abuse. She wants to help those who have suffered experiences similar to hers.
Ivan
Ivan has started a business selling and developing cheaper products for people’s pets (like tiny motorcycle helmets and kangaroo satchels that allow dogs to safely ride around with their owners on motorcycles and bikes). It may not provide enough to pay bills yet, but he believes the business could become profitable with the right connections.
Kevin
Kevin studies multimedia design and has created websites for three businesses using only the computer available to him at the orphan home where he still resides. He wants to grow his client base but will have to meet people outside of the foundation to expand his network.
Maria
Maria is proud to be overcoming her timidity to learn how to connect with others through her future profession as a nurse. She is ready to gain some real-life work experience to build her resumé and pursue her goal of owning a home and working to provide for a family.
These 4 remarkable students represent the kinds of people who have come together to participate in Flint Global’s first Thriving Skills program….
Many of these students have completed their formal education or have acquired a marketable skill and are ready to step through the door into independence as a working adult. Others continue to reside in foster care or orphan homes as they finish school and discover their next steps in life.
But all of them have made an extraordinary effort to participate in this program because of their desire to grow, both personally and professionally. They are eager to become independent and financially self-sustaining through their job or business.
For any young adult, the transition to adulthood brings challenges. But for kids who grow up in institutional care, the lack of support provided by a healthy family environment deprives them of important connections and life skills that can make this climb towards adulthood more manageable.
As members of Flint’s team interviewed these students during our in-person visit, several key roadblocks emerged over and over again:
- “Life outside of the foundation is so much harder than I imagined.”
- “No one will hire me because I lack the relevant work experience.”
- “I can’t grow my business/get a job because I lack the right skills or connections.”
- “I can’t seem to get past the initial interview process for a job.”
- “I struggle to overcome negativity because of my past.”
Like most of life’s challenges, these obstacles are complex and defy reductionist solutions. The goal of Thriving Skills is to walk alongside people like Monica and Manuel during these critical moments of their life, offer training to develop a healthy mindset and learn necessary skills, and assist in creating connections that will help students take the next steps in their journey toward healthy, independent living.
How will the Thriving Skills program accomplish this?
Students will engage in 22 classes in areas like personal finance, interviewing for a job, dealing with difficult emotions, and personal health and hygiene. A local program coordinator will help students develop their resumes and find new connections for job opportunities.
Half of these students will earn compensation as part-time interns with professional mentors, further expanding their connections locally. They will use their professional skills, ranging from business administration to physical education, to serve with Fundamor’s after school program. The after school program will give them valuable work experience in their field of study.
All of the students will now have a larger community of peers and mentors to serve as another support structure during their transition.
Flint Global is honored to be invited into this journey and eager to see how our combined efforts can produce lasting good for these students and their communities.
This work is only possible through the generosity of people like you.
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