PEARLS for Teen Girls

African American and Latina girls are fighting an uphill battle when it comes to High School graduation rates. They are plagued with low self-esteem and dwindling confidence, which in turn, can lead to increased dropout rates and teen pregnancy. In fact, in Milwaukee, The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy reports that nearly half of all African American teens get pregnant at least once before turning 20. The Wisconsin Policy Institute states that only 46 percent of African American teen girls and 50 percent of Latina girls graduated from High School in 2010. This is a sharp contrast to the overall graduation rate of 87 percent of high school students statewide. These alarming statistics demand action. Milwaukees teenage African American and Latina girls are in need of a program to offer them support, assurances, and a means of building their skills.

PEARLS for Teen Girls, Inc. is a dynamic and innovative non-profit leadership development organization serving at-risk, primarily African American and Latina girls, ages 10 to 19 in Milwaukee. PEARLS helps girls achieve in school, avoid teen pregnancy, and use their personal power to achieve their goals and dreams. We provide them with the tools for success and a sense of camaraderie to help them become strong, confident women.

PEARLS programs are girls-only, safe-space gatherings that meet once weekly and serve groups of 20-25 girls. A typical PEARLS session features a guided conversation led by one highly trained Adult Program Coordinator and an assisting Teen Facilitator. Topics might include school, relationships with family, friends and boys, careers, health or whatever the girls identify as pressing issues for them.

PEARLS addresses the interconnected issues of poverty, teen pregnancy, violence, and lack of educational attainment at their very roots, by working with girls during the critical teen years, when personal choices can have lifelong consequences. PEARLS girls build leadership skills and character traits such as honesty, personal accountability, learning to listen to the viewpoints of others, clear communication, critical thinking about life and choices and sound decision making. Through PEARLS nationally acclaimed Goal Setting Initiative, girls learn a process for setting, working toward, evaluating, and reaching tangible goals. These are all skills essential to success in school, work, and life.

In 2012, PEARLS served approximately 1,000 girls, citywide. Of these girls, 100 percent of high school seniors graduated. 100 percent of those high school graduates were accepted to at least one college. 99 percent of all active PEARLS girls avoided pregnancy. Since 2008, PEARLS has grown and maintained these outstanding results. Now, we would like to expand further, increasing our service to include 10,000 girls, annually. While this is an ambitious goal of expansion, based on the success of previous years, we feel an urgency to meet the needs of more girls.

Therefore, we would like ask your organization for a donation of $100,000. This money would allow us to grow our program exponentially, increasing service to at-risk teen girls. The donation would cover hiring costs, materials, and advertising.

$85,000 will be used to hire and train 80 additional Adult Program Coordinators and 80 Teen Facilitators to expand the program from 40 to 400 PEARLS groups. Three administrative assistants will also be added to our offices. These plans to expand our infrastructure will support the increased enrollment into the program.

$10,000 will be set aside to cover materials for projects and activities. This includes off-setting the costs of college campus tours and other beneficial trips to allow for minimum contributions from the girls.

$5,000 will be used for advertising to increase awareness about PEARLS. This increased attention in the communities will not only help us bring girls into the program, but it will also help communities become more familiar with what PEARLS does and how we operate.

By furthering public recognition, we will be able to sustain the program for years to come. PEARLS proven track record of 97 percent or higher success rate has held steady with the additional enrollment over the years and we have every reason to believe this trend will continue. With increased advertisement of the organization, our work and success will become common knowledge, and we will be able to solicit more donors to continue to sustain and expand the program.

PEARLS for Teen Girls has had a vast impact on thousands minority girls over the last few years. Your gift will help us to include tens of thousands of at-risk teenage girls in our program and avoid teen pregnancy, graduate from high school, and continue on to college. Your gift will be instrumental to their success and make a difference in their lives. We appreciate your consideration and look forward to working with you.