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Alternatives For Girls News
August 2013
Greetings!
This month at AFG has been busy busy busy--from the finale of our Rise N' Shine summer camp to money management training for our Peer Educators, there has been a lot of learning and fun! Read on to learn more about what happened this month at AFG.
  
(And, check out the recent Huffington Post article about Detroit nonprofits featuring AFG!)
  
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Rise N' Shine Finale 2013
Rise N' Shine Finale 2013
Check out the video above to see some highlights from the finale of our Rise N' Shine summer camp!
The Apprentice

"Cupcakes! Get some of our delicious cupcakes here!" the girls cry out. They gather behind tables covered in white and pink frosted cupcakes covered in multi-colored sprinkles, each claiming that their cupcakes were the best.

 

"Cupcake wars" was one of several activities  that took place as part of "The Young Apprentice" workshop during AFG's Rise N' Shine summer camp. Throughout the workshop, young women learned skills ranging from marketing and sales to teamwork and leadership. 13 girls ages 11-14 took part in the group.

 

During "Cupcake Wars," the girls were divided into two teams. They then had to come up with a way to design, market, and sell cupcakes to AFG staff members who would purchase them using "AFG dollars." Of course, as they did this they had to find a way to make their team's cupcakes more appealing than the other team's.

cupcake wars
Cupcake Wars

One young woman said, "By working in our groups, everyone worked together on the project very well. We had fun decorating, baking, and selling them!"

 

In addition to "Cupcake Wars," the girls undertook a Prevention presentation challenge. They were again divided up into two teams, and were given a topic to research (either bullying or teen pregnancy). They then had to find a creative way to present on that topic to AFG staff and other young women.

 

An additional challenge tasked the girls with researching how companies marketed and distributed different products. They then had to design their own products and come up with ways to market and sell them.

 

"During the Young Apprentice class, I personally learned a lot," states Camilla-Isabella. "I learned how to share responsibility and how to work together with others."

 

Arriana, another member of the Young Apprentice workshop, had a lot to say about her experience:

 

 My experience in the Young Apprentice workshop was challenging. There were some things that were fun. One of them was making commercials and the other was making cupcakes. The presentation about teen pregnancy that we chose was a little challenging. We had to make a presentation about a topic that teaches others a lesson and write important details. Aside from all that work, I met new people, and I learned about teamwork.

 

Regardless of what field these young women ultimately choose, it is those lessons of teamwork, leadership, creativity, and responsibility that will take them far whatever their profession!

 

 

Alliance Introduces "Bedz on Hand"
  
The Runaway and Homeless Youth Regional Alliance (The Alliance), a
Resource Center
Staff in AFG's Resource Center
collaboration between homeless shelters around metro Detroit, recently introduced a new program to streamline the process of finding space in shelters for homeless and runaway youth. The Alliance currently includes Alternatives For Girls, Starfish Family Services, Common Ground, and Ruth Ellis Center.

 

Michele Legleitner, Program Director of The Alliance, explains, "In the upcoming year The Alliance is focused on building internal capacity and infrastructure to better work together, improve data collection and sharing among agencies and carry out joint efforts to increase public awareness about youth homelessness and the challenges faced by disconnected youth." Its ultimate vision is to halt youth homelessness.

  

The new program, Bedz on Hand, will help streamline the process of finding open shelter beds. "For example, if a youth comes to Alternatives For Girls and we are currently at capacity, we can look online at Bedz on Hand and see if the other agencies have an available bed," explains Legleitner.  "This will help to streamline services and avoid making several calls to different agencies to find an available bed." 

 

The software will also allow all four agencies to better track trends over time and provide a forum for staff  to post questions, community events, or local resources. The goal is to have staff at all four agencies trained on the new software so that it is in full use by September 1st.

 

Do you have questions about the Alliance? Please contact Michele Legleitner at mlegleitner@alternativesforgirlsorg.

 

Blog: Rise N' Shine Youth Leaders
This month's blog was written by Rajanae and Ciara, Youth Leaders in AFG's Rise N' Shine summer camp.
  

Rajanae: I was a member of the Rise N' Shine summer program since I was four years old, and grew too old to attend. So I decided to join as a Youth Leader. This year was my third year as a Youth Leader. Each year gets more exciting. This year we had a ton of swimming trips, and we even went go cart racing. The classes for the girls were awesome; basketball, gardening, yoga, cooking, arts and crafts, fashion design, movie making, and a lot of other fun classes. Personally, I like that we even help the girls with their reading and writing skills while having fun. Rise N' Shine also helps the Youth Leaders with leadership trainings, CPR, and with working on a team. Rise N' Shine was a wonderful experience for the young ladies, youth leaders, and the facilitators. I believe we all gained something from this summer.

 

Click here to read the full blog.

 

Thank you for taking the time to hear from us!
  
Sincerely,

Amanda (Amy) L. Good
CEO
  
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