Make a Difference in a Girl's Life!
Imagine as a 16 year-old young woman you've been evicted from your grandmother's apartment after she passed. This morning your friend's mother just evicted you from their living room sofa. Where will you sleep tonight? Someone tells you about a girl's shelter in southwest Detroit.
Imagine as the parent who is underemployed, you want what is best for your 9 year-old daughter. You cannot afford to move out of the city yet you know she has less than a 50-50 chance of graduating from high school. The neighborhood gang beckons to her daily. You don't know what to do. Where is her future? A neighbor mentions an after-school program, a mentor, summer activities, field trips, homework help, college visits.
Imagine people who loved you (or so you thought) told you life on the streets earning money was the only option, twenty years later you've no I.D, no job skills, and nowhere to go. You want off the streets.
These scenarios are real stories that have been told numerous times, with only the details and faces changing. But there is an organization that knows these stories all to well, but fortunately they also know solutions. Alternatives for Girls (AFG) has more than a 20 year history helping homeless and high risk girls and young women avoid violence, teen pregnancy and exploitation by helping them to explore and access the support, resources and opportunities necessary to be safe, to grow strong and to make positive choices in their lives.
There are three different programs that AFG utilizes in order to meet their objectives: AFG Prevention, the AFG Shelter and AFG Outreach. The preventions service locates self-esteem, improves grade-point averages, teaches girls how to reject drugs, alcohol, how to choose abstinence and connects the girls with a mentor. These are just a few examples of the types of preventative measures that are performed by the Alternatives for Girls team.
The second service is the AFG shelter is for young women (16-21 years old) to live and discover abilities and callings that lead them toward meaningful careers and otherwise productive lives. Girls are strongly encouraged go finish their diplomas and advancing toward degrees and to develop a strong work ethic, parental skills, and are taught financial practices and other essential life lessons.
AFG has Helped Local Women for Over 20 Years
AFG also has an Outreach program that serves as a lifeline to many young women seeking to remove themselves from situations and activities that threaten their physical and mental well-being, their futures, and their lives. Staff and volunteers encounter young women on the streets, in all seasons, during daylight and after dark, providing harm-reduction kits, a ride to AFG and other safe places, links to life-saving and support services.
Alternatives for Girls invite you to enjoy a breakfast with them and learn more about the program on Tuesday, September 16th at the Detroit Yacht Club on Belle Isle or Wednesday, September 24th at the Southfield Marriott. Both events begin registration at 7:30 a.m. followed by breakfast and the program beginning promptly at 8 a.m.
Help with friend-raising and fundraising to ensure the next 20 years of Positive Choices, Powerful Lives at Alternatives for Girls. This inspiring breakfast will impact your heart and influence your soul.
Written by Lindsey Bryant
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