Diamonds in the Raw

Our group was incorporated in 2015 and is made up of girls ages 5-14 who live in the Buckeye/Woodland neighborhood of Cleveland, a low socioeconomic area of the city. Many of them live in single parent households and are low income.  I engage the girls in the arts; including singing and dance, to develop their self-esteem, leadership capabilities, awareness, and to teach them community responsiveness.

I believe strongly that you give a person a fish they'll eat for a day...teach them how to fish and you'll feed them for a lifetime! That's why this year the girls have already completed a community clean up, worked with One Hundred Black Women placing flags on the graves of veterans for Memorial Day, and taught dance to students at a daycare in their community.  They also helped pass out clothing to homeless women at the shelter on Payne. Now is the time to give back to the girls. This fall we're planning several local field trips that will brighten their horizons and expose them to other cultures and opportunities. But we can't do it without you!

Create a calendar of events including visit to the Maltz Museum, Playhouse Square, ballet class at Cleveland Ballet on Shaker Square

Purchase new uniforms and supplies (including streamers, flags, tights, leotards, etc)

Celebrate the end of the season with a road trip to Spellman College!

We started this program because there's a need for girls from the inner city to see a positive role model of who they could be. A lot of times when you grow up in the inner city you don't have that. I want to expose these young girls to other women outside of their norm. They see a lot of gang and domestic violence and at such a young age it can take a real toll on them. Someone once told me that a person's perception is their reality and I want to change that perception so these girls will have a better reality.