Fund Emergency Housing for Girls in Barbados

It has been a journey, this past few months since we have last connected with you.

While we have served more than 100 girls so far this year through our designated programmes in many ways, such as: Educational Grants, Workshops, Weekly Mentorship Modules, Mental Wellness Counselling and Food, Voucher and Hygiene Security; we also recognise that there are some key components of support that are reduced due to lack of funding.

Our quarterly Needs Assessments have continued in order to capture from both the girls and their families, where the missing gaps are, how best they can be served, and what resources could be most useful in instances of displacement due to Climate Disaster Impact, Gender Based Violence and Neglect.

Based on all the immediate needs identified, here are some ways your support has amplified this work:

1. Strengthening our food security because hunger and lack of nutrition has a major impact on educational development, for more than 50 girls;
2. Strengthening our mental wellness and health support because your body and spirit can't function effectly without your mind for approximately 15 girls;
3. Expanding our safe-space services and protocols to continue our Emergency Intervention for our mentees, because we want to ensure that if the girls and their families ever run-away, are displaced, or homeless that there is somewhere where they can go;
4. Increasing the Educational Capacity Building provided, from supplies, to books, to afterschool tutoring, to even aiding with coverage of tools needed to function, that demands online learning; i.e. internet, electricity, water, for more than 10 girls; and,
5. Increasing our thematic offering for training to include Leadership and Personality Assessments, Financial Literacy, Digital Management, and Investment Planning because we continue to apply our Strategic Plan to advance our girls' mindset in being entrepreneurially minded, emotionally aware, forward-thinking, financial power-houses and personally sound leaders.

Other areas which have been identified that we definitely are seeking more support for are as follows:

1. Better infrastructure for our Emergency Intervention systems, which includes the build out of flexible rooms and spaces for short-term housing needs.
2. More opportunities for educational scholarships, growth experiences and development grants, that allows girls to see beyond their circumstances, and not have to worry about the financial burden that is attached to their ongoing developmet.
3. More qualified and knowledgeable team members, who can add value to our strategies and implementation processes, to ensure our girls get the best of the best to thrive.

With all that said, we can't thank you enough for all your support, and to all those who have left us messages of hope and encouragement thank you so much!

Links:

• www.iamagirl.ngo