| Description |
Reaching at-risk, 5th and 6th grade girls throughout low-socioeconomic areas in our community, the YWTeen Program increases social support, self-efficacy, and positive body image and provides a safe environment for the girls we serve. <br/><br/>Over 70% of the girls we serve come from low-income households and are at a great risk for teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and juvenile delinquency; but exposing them to positive influences and opportunities prevents them from making life-altering decisions with heavy consequences. With a curriculum that focuses on psychosocial development, the YWTeen Program significantly increases self-efficacy, social support and positive perception of body image among the girls. YWTeens provides a place where girls can voice their views and experiences and listen to the concerns of others within a safe space of supportive peers, which enables them to counter the unrealistic, unhealthy idea of the perfect female image that society promotes. By effectively building genuine relationships, the curriculum nurtures the idea that self-worth is based on inner quality of connections, not appearances. As a result, YWTeens transition out of the program with an increased sense of self-worth and because of a more positive self-image, are better prepared to handle the many obstacles they will face throughout their lifetime. <br/><br/>The program includes one-hour weekly sessions that promote self-awareness and self-confidence, help girls maintain authentic relations with peers and adult women in their community, counter trends toward self-doubt and allow for genuine self-expression; bi-monthly Saturday sessions that reinforce weekly group sessions and include special focus on character-building, exercise, nutrition and socialization; and Leadership Camps during intermission and summer months that focus on the development of personal strengths, goal-setting, leadership skills and the importance of education. Charitable funding allows the YWCA to offer the YWTeen Program at an hourly cost of $68 per group of 20 girls. A generous grant of $5,508 funds three groups for an entire 27-week school year, ensures an actively engaging curriculum, and provides these young girls opportunities to create a successful future. <br/> |
| Benefits |
Young girls are particularly vulnerable, socially and psychologically, during the transitional years of early and middle adolescence. Programs like YWTeens cultivate an appropriate environment to meet these needs, build connections and further intrapersonal development during this time. The result is confident girls, expressing themselves, discovering solutions to a multitude of challenges, and creating successful futures for themselves as empowered women in our world. |
