The Liberty City-based prevention and intervention program for young females, Girl Power, has always attempted to teach its participants that with hard work, integrity and perseverance, the path to success is within their grasp. Now with the non-profit’s recently-launched mentoring program, Sister Circle Mentoring, Girl Power hopes that local women who have actually worked hard and made it will be willing to share their keys to success with today’s generation.
The mentoring program’s kick off celebration was held on Thursday, Sept. 22nd at the Girl Power headquarters.
“One of the main reasons are putting so much emphasis on the mentoring program is because most of us who are successful in life know that it is because we were mentored,” said Thelma Campbell, Girl Power’s president and CEO. “In the culture of where we are in Liberty City and Little Haiti, some of that tradition that we had is not here anymore.”
According to Campbell, the goals of the newly-formed Sister Circle Mentoring Program are to improve a girl’s behavior in three primary areas: interpersonal relationships, delinquency and other harmful behaviors and academic performance and participation.
Funded by the Children’s Trust, Sister Girl Mentoring is for girls ages 11 to 17 and is open to anyone who lives in Miami-Dade County. Girl Power has particularly targeted girls attending local high schools such as Edison, Central, Northwestern and Booker T. Washington. Program mentors must be at least 21-years-old, be willing to commit to the program for a year, have a clean criminal history and participate in a two-hour training seminar.
The program is looking for “anyone who really loves kids and, beyond that, women who want to make a difference,” said Kara Hart, Girl Power’s mentoring coordinator. Forty girls have signed up for the program so far.
For more information, call 305-756-5502.
By Kaila Heard
kheard@miamitimesonline.com
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