PEARLS for Teen Girls Inc., a Milwaukee nonprofit aimed at providing leadership skills to at-risk Latina and African-American teens, launched the 10,000 Girls Initiative on Thursday.
The Initiative is a growth plan that would expand the program’s capacity to reach 10,000 area girls. The organization estimates more than 20,000 Milwaukee teens would benefit from its programming.
PEARLS will add 10 new groups in the fall, expanding its reach to another 250 girls, for a total of 1,100 teens by 2013.
“Our growth strategy is designed to keep our focus on quality programming and proven results as we work to be able to effectively serve the thousands of girls in our community who need a program like PEARLS,” said CEO Danae Davis. “We see a need and we believe that with support from the community, our partners and our donors, we can continue to consistently grow to meet that need.”
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett declared June 15 PEARLS Day in Milwaukee.
“There is a great need for the type of programming PEARLS provides to at-risk girls in the City of Milwaukee,” said Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett. “Girls in our community need to be encouraged to grow into confident, accountable and goal-oriented young women, PEARLS provides that encouragement in a meaningful, relevant way that has a positive effect on our community.”
