06 Sep Girls in the Know Receives $2,500 Grant from the Pott Foundation

Girls in the Know was recently awarded a $2,500 grant from The Pott Foundation to support its school-based program, which targets girls facing adversity.

The Pott Foundation’s funding will support school-based programming during the 2022-2023 academic year. The Pott-funded Empowerment Workshop Series will reach approximately 30 preteen girls enrolled in St. Louis City schools, primarily in the St. Louis Public School (SLPS) system, and 600 girls overall throughout the St. Louis region during the grant program. GITK will deliver the Empowerment Workshop Series on healthy relationships and development to pre-teen girls and their trusted adult that includes educational components and hands-on activities.

GITK’s programming is more critical now than ever before. The time it will take to close the gender gap grew by 36 years in the space of just 12 months due to COVID-19 (World Economic Forum, 2021). Girls have faced more unsupervised time and stress at home and, in some cases, abuse and neglect. For many girls, technology has replaced human voices of love with digital messages of “I am not enough.” Additionally, the CDC reports that since the onset of social media, hospital admissions for non-fatal self-harm are up 62% in girls ages 15-19 and 189% in girls ages 10-14. The birth rate among St. Louis City teens is much higher than the state, and teen suicide and homicide rates are rising.

GITK strongly feels that creating equity for young girls, who may not have access to critical, fact-based information, will guide them to make healthy decisions. GITK serves individuals who have historically lacked access to quality prevention and therapeutic services. Our 13 years of experience and all of the joy and heartbreak witnessed lead us to the knowledge that health equity and racial justice are inexorably intertwined. The girls we serve are the least likely to have access to positive programs addressing their mental and physical health. At the same time, these same girls are those most at risk for negative outcomes. Arming at-risk girls with skills and knowledge on their physical, social, and emotional development empowers them to make safe choices and reach their limitless potential.