A non-profit called Empower Girls is working to shape the lives of young girls in Harford County by giving them the tools they need to succeed.
Founder and CEO, Caitlyn Davis remembers throughout her childhood, she had many women helping her maneuver through life.
“I had a lot of women just constantly showing me things, teaching me things and just pouring into my life in all different kinds of ways,” said Davis.
It was a sisterhood she was thankful for growing up.
“Because of that, I was able to really learn the things that I’m good at, who I can go to for things I’m not so good at and I always just felt really supported and protected,” said Davis.
Davis realized that not every young girl had the same support and protection she had growing up. So she decided to do something about it.
“I started Empower Girls in 2014 to provide young ladies with a guiding light on their journey to womanhood,” said Davis.
“I understand from a mental health aspect, you definitely need some kind of strong, social, emotional support in this type of situation,” said Empower Girls Vice President, Taisha Vinson.
Through workshops and mentoring programs, Davis provides young girls with the support they need.
“Unfortunately, with me being in the schools in a day to day basis, I see some of the worst,” said Vinson. “There’s been some rather negative things that have gone on in the school year so far. But there’s been things that we’ve been able to do to kind of offset some of those bad vibes and some of those negative situations that some of the girls have gotten into.”
Teaching a message of strength and power from within and empowering young girls by showing them they can accomplish anything they put their minds to.
“The biggest message I want girls to get from me is that if you keep showing up for yourself, I’m going to keep showing up for you,” said Davis. “And when you get to where you want to be, show up for someone else. Reach back and be that guiding light for someone else because each one of us is able to show the way to someone else,” said Davis.
Organizers say Empower Girls helps about 10-12 girls ages 8-18 in almost every school in Harford County. They recently started to expand to operate in Baltimore city hoping to empower even more young gilrs.
