Phenom Girls hosts Visions of the Future session

Phenom Girls hosted a special mother/daughter vision board session on January 26 at Holy Name of Jesus Catholic School. As the first program of the 2019 year, the organization hoped that it would act as a springboard to a year’s worth of exciting events meant to empower young girls to embrace the phenomenal young woman within. “Vision boards are not only fun to make, but they really get you to think about your future in a way that you may have never done before,” said Dr. Angela Parker, the Executive Director of the organization. “And what is so special about mothers and daughters doing this project together is that they get an opportunity to learn about each others dreams and goals.” Founded in 2015, Phenom Girls works with middle-school aged girls who are at-risk for having their future derailed due to lack of education, violence or early teen pregnancy. The organization focuses on providing girls with the tools, skills and experiences that they need to think outside the box and thrive as they move towards adulthood. The event was a big hit as the mothers and daughters spent the afternoon bonding over their boards. “This was such a great experience for me and my daughter,” said Terry Henderson, who had heard about the event from a friend. “It was so sweet see her so excited about doing this and it was also fun for me. She gave me ideas and I gave her ideas. I mean she was really focused during this project and I liked that.” For many of the girls, the vision board gave them an opportunity to express how they felt about themselves and their future through art. “My board is perfect,” said Maya, 11, who was participating in Phenom Girls for the second year in a row. Maya happily displayed her board, which was filled of images of lavish vacation, expensive clothes, perfumes and lots of bling. “This board represents me as a queen,” she said. “And where I am going in the future. I want to be a fashion model and make perfume and travel. This represents all things I want to do and all the places I want to go.”

The board represents me as a queen...and where I am going in the future...

Experiences like the one Maya and Terry had is why Phenom Girls does this work. “For so long our girls have needed us to put our arms around them and focus on their needs and how we can make their lives better.,” said Dr. Parker. “Sometimes I feel that there has been so much focus on our boys that our girls get lost and that is not acceptable to me. Our girls deserve better and we as a community need to step up and make sure that thy get it. In addition to the vision board, participants were treated to a taco bar and the opportunity to fellowship with each other. The majority of the programs sponsored by Phenom Girls are free of charge and Parker hopes that the more girls in the community learn about the program the more they will want to participate. “We do so many good things all year round and I just want to involve as many girls as we possibly can,” said Dr. Parker. “There is just something so special about being able to mentor a girl at this age, I hope that we are building relationships that last a lifetime.

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