CASCILLA — The sixth annual Girls’ Empowerment Summer Retreat was held here over a two-day period, June 24-25. Over the two-day period, 14 girls attended.
We love the opportunity to empower girls to continue the path of being their best selves. Norma Bradford-Gallaspy and Dr. Arletha Coffey (both Charleston High School, Class of 1983 alumni), hosted the successful empowerment retreat.
This year’s theme was “Wildflowers: Bloom in Your Own Way,” with a focus on “embracing uniqueness and growth at your own pace.”
Overall, the goals of the retreat continue to be:
» Equip girls with leadership techniques and communication skills
» Educate, expose and empower
» Improve and instill levels of confidence and self-esteem in girls
» Mental health awareness
The topics that we touched on included: “Planting seeds of what each girl wanted to improve on” (confidence, self-care, reading and socializing were a few of the seeds), “realizing their identity,” “growth takes time,” “No Comparison Zone” and “creating a bloom board and flower crown.”
The girls created a compliment wall and pinned it with positive affirmations. They also picked one person to say some-thing kind about, teaching positivity and kindness. They were given the opportunity to speak freely, exchange experiences and ask the presenters questions on any of the topics.
We reiterated that it was their retreat, and we were there for them. Special guest (Ms. Vanna of Grenada) shared with the girls about Blooming & Speaking, then a private mental health session.
Dr. Arletha Coffey always does an amazing job with the personal hygiene portion. She broke the girls out into groups and gave a topic related to different areas of personal hygiene. They had to work as a team, come up with a presentation and share with the group. Reinforcing confidence, building self-esteem, speaking in front of others and thinking on their feet are some of the areas that we focus on every year. We believe we reached our goals by sharing experiences and techniques, interaction, providing leadership opportunities and allowing girls to share in a safe, no judgment environment.
As in years past, our mindset continues to be that if we can help at least one girl navigate through some of life’s experiences, then we are making an impact.
I love to see some of the girls come back year after year. My hope is that each one of the girls knows that they are unique and valued, and feels more empowered, confident and inspired to accomplish their goals in life.
We see our young selves in them and feel that it is important for us to give back to our local communities!
As always, everything is free to the girls, and we always send this home with goody bags!
Thank you to our volunteers and presenters: Dr. Arletha Coffey, Bernice Bradford, Alicia Pittman, Sandra Brooks, Bessie Watson, Ms. Vanna, and Mary Andrews!
Thank you to our sponsors: Piney Grove Missionary Baptist Church of Cascilla and Ruth Henley of Severn, Maryland.
