Photo credit: Mariners Inn
Why is removing barriers important to the success of young women in Detroit?
Many times we don’t realize how barriers impact a young woman’s ability to be successful — lack of education, unstable housing and utilities or mental health issues. If you are not helping to remove those barriers, you are setting these young women up for failure.
Why is breaking the cycle of addiction so important?
We really focus on prevention of drug use for young people because that could impact every area of their lives. Addiction impacts families in many ways; from employment, homelessness, to mental health issues. By breaking this cycle, we can impact the success of the entire family. Success can be as simple as someone having a well-paying job and taking care of their family.
What does success look like for young women in your program?
Success looks different for every young woman. It could be attending school every day. It could be having stable housing. It could be obtaining a job. We allow the young women to define that for themselves.
What is the big-picture goal that you want this program to address?
The big-picture goal is … to remove barriers [to] education and employment and introduce them to learning how trauma affects not only their lives, but their families’ lives as well.
