JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — 'Girls of Virtue', a local organization aimed at helping young girls in Jacksonville achieve their highest potential, is renovating their first development center in downtown Jacksonville.
“I was an 18-year-old drop out when I first encountered ‘Girls of Virtue’. They pushed me to strive and overcome my insecurities and now I’m a 2021 graduate," Tarriuana Pickard, a 2021 Biscyance Graduate and program participant said.
‘Girls of Virtue’ partners with local high schools to implement classes for girls focused on life skills, mental health, wellness, education, and more.
“Safe space for women to be able to engage and give each other advice and to also help us grow and also become more self-motivated and have a more positive outlook on life." said Kay’esha Hooks, a recent Lonestar Graduate and program participant said.
Currently ‘Girls of Virtue’ partners with two charter dropout prevention high schools in Jacksonville, one of those is Biscayne High School.
“It builds so much camaraderie, but it also builds confidence and endurance with our students," Erica Williams, principal of Biscayne High School said.
The group's new devleopment center is in the Old Daily Record Building downtown and it will be the first physical space for the organization. Until now, the group has been working out of the schools it partners with.
“Our main mission is to empower young women to be grounded spiritually, mentally, physically and financially," Della Sellers, President of ‘Girls of Virtue’, said.
The new development center will include a computer lab, mental health offices, a kitchen, art center, collaboration space and much more. It will give young girls the opportunity to meet with mentors, work on resumes, learn cooking and life skills, and work with other students in the area.
“When all of us graduated high school, we didn't learn what it meant to manage credit, we didn't learn what it meant to manage money…So that transition of how do you go from that to wanting to be successful without having those resources is hard. YouTube is nice nowadays, because it's there and you Google some of it, but really wanting to kind of fill that gap for the youth in our city," Sellers said.
Organization president Della Sellers says she started the program after realizing the need for a judgement free zone where young girls can learn a vocational trade and work on life skills.
"We want to help young women launch companies, we want to give them the resources to know how do you manage a home, what good personal and business skills look like. I'm just really preparing them for what it looks like to be successful in life," Sellers said.
The new ‘Girls of Virtue’ building is expected to open up in September.
The organization is having multiple fundraisers and open house events to prepare, they are looking for help via donations or volunteers. A 2nd Annual Golf Tournament will be held October 21st to benefit the new development center.
Anyone looking to get involved or wanting more information can reach out to organization's president Della Sellers at della@girlsofvirtue.org or visit their website here.