Why H.E.R. Story?
Our flagship program, H.E.R. Story ( Helping Empower Regalness), is designed to provide opportunity and exposure to teenaged girls ages 14-18 from high-need areas within the city. Primarily based at Phelps ACE high School in North East DC, our program guides young women through a facilitated mentoring curriculum designed to bolster student sense of self and leadership skills. Students learn academic success skills, interpersonal skills for healthy relationships, and gain exposure through college tours and workshops.
We recognize the unique pressure today’s urban teens face; drugs, sex, online bullying, etc. Students without stable home lives are less likely to have advocates in their corner urging them to graduate. Each young woman is paired with a local young professional. H.E.R. Story seeks to provide professional, academic and life skill building resources to African-American teenage woman from high need communities through mentoring from young professional women who are dedicated to empowering their communities.
The program produces results. For the past 5 years, 100% of the students that have graduated from the program also graduated from High School. They all were also accepted into a post-secondary institution or trade school. This year we took 14 students on a 10 school HBCU tour. The young women received over 200K in scholarship offers. Within this school year over 50 percent of program participants saw an average GPA increase of 14% or more .
Apply to be a mentor today!