MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Every Tuesday, as part of our Community Changers series, we highlight organizations that are making Memphis better.
This week, we caught up with Beautiful Spirited Women, a nonprofit organization that mentors young ladies from underserved communities. They believe they’re not just an organization, they’re a lifestyle.
“Self-esteem, career development, what do they want to be. Whether you’re ten or fifteen. What do you want to do and what do you want to be when you grow up,” said Associate Director La’keisha Gomes.
For the girls ages four to eleven, they’re called the cupcakes and focus on positive affirmations.
“We’re looking at positive peer relationships. They’re still growing and still learning for themselves how to adapt through the elementary school age,” Gomes said.
Girls aged 12 to 19 are known as the mentees.
“They’re learning a little bit more about themselves. They’re dealing with a little bit of bullying at school. They’re dealing with peer conflict. They may be dealing with body shaming,” Gomes said.
The group offers workshops to help empower young ladies to embrace those tough topics and someone to lean on along the way.
Kynneddi Lee, a 13-year-old seventh-grader at Southaven Middle School, is a member of Beautiful Spirited Women. Her mom, Katherine Lee, knows how important those life lessons are.
“She is strong. She is confident in who she is. Doesn’t allow people to persuade her to be anything else,” Lee said.
That’s why Brown Missionary Baptist Church wanted to give Beautiful Spirited Women $1,000. Because when you learn at an early age not to worry about what other people say about you, you build a solid foundation moving forward.