Wise Up Girl Program
Wise Up Girl Program
Helping young women overcome obstacles, pursue higher education, and achieve personal success
Ensuring a Brighter Future
The Wise Up Girl program is a coaching program for at-risk High School and College aged girls, providing life skills and relationship education content. Scholarships incentivize the girls to stick with and complete the program.
Investing in New Leaders
Growing in wisdom while growing in age is an important part of maturity. As young people look around them, they receive conflicting messaging and advice about how they should live their lives.
In Arizona, a group of young ladies found an opportunity to cut through everything people were telling them, and learn how to make wise choices for themselves. They found the Family Bridges program Wise Up Girl.
Family Bridges started the program to help college age young women learn how to make smart decisions through these formative years in their relationships, their choices, and their goals. In this unique video, we get to meet some of these special girls and their mentors, and learn about the impact of wise choices.
“Today, these girls need more than just parent’s advice….give them the message - there is hope.”
These words come from mentor and speaker Imelda Hartley, who shares her experiences with the Wise Up Girls, and gives her wisdom to us.
As the program graduates Estephany, Juliana, and Samantha, share their stories, the truth of Hartley’s statement comes through. Each girl’s unique experiences put them at crossroads that Wise Up Girl helped them navigate.
As daughters, students, and future leaders, their ability to step into these roles effectively will be influenced by their ability to resolve conflict, their relationships, and exercise mindfulness. Girls in particular are more relationally-driven, and empower them to cut through the clutter and see all their options, and make the choices that are best for each of them.
As each girl shares their testimony, they reveal the obstacles they’ve overcome to embrace the wisdom being passed on, and their growth and personal maturity is clear.
Wise Up Girl is about more than just helping young women make decisions right now, it is about investing in their futures as well. For every year a participant goes through the program, she receives $500 towards her college education.
Looking into their futures, the program graduates each expressed hope and confidence for what comes ahead. For Samantha, recognizing the tools she learned being applied in real life was a revelation; Estephany realized her own self-worth, and how important confidence is for shaping her own destiny. Juliana smiled brightly and declared, “the program has shown what you...what you should be for yourself.”
By avoiding toxic relationships and other pitfalls in early adulthood, these girls are set for lives of promise and happiness.
Did You Know?
According to a according to a study by the Family Institute and the American Enterprise Institute published by Brad Wilcox and Wendy Wang, 97% of Millennials who follow the success sequence are not poor by the time they reach their prime young adult years (ages 28-34).
Millennials who followed the “success sequence” were not living in poverty by the time they reach their prime young adult years (ages 28-34) The stats below show percentage of adults ages 28-34 in poverty after completing each step:
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31%
Graduated from high school
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16%
And had a full-time job
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8%
And on track
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3%
Or married first
