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Positive Choices, Powerful Lives Event
We invite you to join Alternatives For Girls on September 24th from 5:30-7:00pm at the Detroit Historical Museum as we support homeless and high-risk girls and young women and empower them to make positive choices and live powerful lives. During the event, you will learn more about AFG's work, hear from some of the young women we serve, and learn how you can become involved. There is no charge to attend, though you will be invited to support our programs. Parking, hors d'oeuvres and drinks will be provided.
To RSVP, contact Alexandria Armstrong at
(313)361-4000 ext. 223 by September 14.
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Nominate an Incredible Woman for a Role Model
Award!
AFG is currently accepting nominations for our 2016 Role Model Awards. Do you know an exceptional woman in our community? Nominate her to become an AFG Role Model! Nominations will be accepted until October 2nd, 2015. Click here to make a nomination on our website or call (313)361-4000 ext. 223 to learn more.
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Alternatives For Girls
News
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Greetings!
Summer is ending and we are looking back at all of the fun we've had and everything that the determined young women that AFG serves have accomplished. This month, two of the young women from our shelter moved into their own housing and the sixteen Peer Educators who graduated high school in the spring are getting ready to begin their first year of college!
We also celebrated the end to another successful summer of our Rise N' Shine camp. Read on to meet the Youth Leaders who helped make Rise N' Shine possible and get a look at all of the festivities from the Rise N' Shine finale!
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Youth Leaders Help Girls Rise and Shine
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One Youth Leader says goodbye to campers after the Rise N' Shine finale.
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"During the field trip to Sky Zone, I remember thinking it would be impossible to get 70 girls to take their shoes off, put the socks on, and get ready to play. But we all worked together and we got it done," Anna, a first year Youth Leader, remembers. Making the seemingly impossible happen isn't in the job description for the Rise N' Shine Youth Leaders, but it is definitely something they can now add to their resume. This summer, 25 Youth Leaders assisted AFG staff in hosting the Prevention Department's annual Rise N' Shine summer camp. The camp, for girls between the ages of 4-14 living in Southwest Detroit, is designed to allow the participants to learn new skills, improve their literacy, and make new friends, all in a fun and welcoming environment.
The Youth Leaders, all between the ages of 16-24, had to have a 2.5 or higher Grade Point Average, be currently enrolled in school, and possess leadership skills to be hired for the job. "I decided to apply to become a Youth Leader because I love working with kids and being a mentor to them," Kiara, another first year Youth Leader, shares. In addition to receiving a weekly stipend, the Youth Leaders also participated in weekly trainings on topics such as CPR/First Aid, conflict resolution, financial literacy and more. These topics prepared them for issues they may face during the camp while also helping to improve and increase valuable employability skills, such as time management. "Getting the girls from being active to having to sit down and eat lunch was hard, but learning to manage my time made it easier," Anna shares.
A typical day for the Youth Leaders started at 8am with breakfast.
Working with AFG staff, the Youth Leaders helped prepare and serve breakfast, check each camper in as they arrived, and then got the girls ready for their first workshop of the day. Some of the workshops this year included cooking, arts and crafts, reading, chemistry, and gardening. After guiding the participants to their workshops, the Youth Leaders provided support to each workshop facilitator by taking participants to the bathroom, running errands, and making sure each girl is participating and having fun. "Participating in the workshops with the girls inspires them to get more involved, talk about what they are learning, and come up with ideas for things. It also makes them feel more at home," Kiara explains. Click here to read more.
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2015 Rise N' Shine Finale
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"One thing I've learned this summer is to be fearless!" Makhya, one of the 70 campers who attended Rise N' Shine, AFG's free summer camp, shares while smiling from ear to ear. Rise N' Shine tends to have this effect on the girls, aged 4-14, who attend each summer. Between the fresh summer air, countless fun activities, and new friends everywhere you turn, Rise N' Shine is a recipe for a fun summer vacation. Indeed, the fun is what brings girls back year after year and allows them to experience workshops like gardening, chemistry, cooking, dance, and much more.
The excitement is tangible as you walk into the room for the camp's summer finale. Held at AFG on August 13, the finale highlights what the campers have learned and accomplished during the summer and allows them to share it with their family and friends, who are invited to attend. Before the program begins, the girls introduce their parents to the new friends they have made, the Youth Leaders who have been supervising their groups all summer, and the AFG staff members who made the whole summer possible.
Once the program begins, the crowd enjoys perfectly choreographed dances, beautifully arranged songs sung by the campers and the Youth
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One camper narrates the "You and Me and Home Sweet Home" play.
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Leaders, and two plays performed by the girls from the Turning Books into Plays workshop. The plays, "Cinderella" and "You and Me and Home Sweet Home", were books the girls adapted into plays and practiced all summer long. After weeks of preparation and practice, each girl excitedly and enthusiastically preforms her parts and then bows to a round of applause once they finish. After the performances, each participant is recognized for her accomplishments in the award ceremony. The youth leaders call up the girls they helped supervise and proudly awarded them a certificate of competition.
Before it's time to leave, each girl receives their own 2015 Rise N' Shine yearbook. As they race around trying to get their friends, Youth Leaders, and
workshop facilitators to sign their books, they take a break to talk about what they learned and what they enjoyed most this summer. "This summer I've learned to be kind, not disrespectful or rude," one girl shares. Another camper agrees and adds, "I've learned how to be challenged by new things." Of course, their favorite things about Rise N' Shine are also the things they will miss the most, "I'm going to miss my friends and my Youth Leader!" JaMiah, a returning camper, shares. One thing all of the girls agree on, they can't wait to come back next summer and do it all over again!
Alternatives For Girls would like to thank all of the volunteers and donors who made Rise N' Shine possible this summer!
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Rise N' Shine Photos Click here to see more photos from all of the exciting RNS workshops, including cooking, chemistry, arts and crafts, and more!
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Rise N' Shine Finale Photos Click here to see pictures from the Rise N' Shine Finale!
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Thank you for your continued support!
Sincerely,
Amanda (Amy) L. Good
CEO
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