Rotary Club of Huntsville continues to empower girls with donation to YWCA Muskoka

Photo, from left: Melissa Malloy, Brittany Powless, Andrea Laidlaw (teacher), Santana Symons, Brandy Van Gelder (Rotary Club of Huntsville President), Lindsay Bradshaw, Lou Luvison (Rotary Club of Huntsville Youth Services), and Hannah Lin (YWCA Muskoka Executive Director)

The Rotary Club of Huntsville presented $1500 to YWCA Muskoka today in support of the Girlz Choice program at Huntsville High School. Long-time supporters of youth programs, the Club has been providing funding for this program – an in-school, life skills program for grade nine and 10 girls – for the past four years.

“Rotary has been a tremendous supporter of this program,” said Hannah Lin, YWCA Muskoka’s Executive Director. “It’s so necessary at this age. It’s about letting them identify what’s important for them to talk about – peer pressure, stress management, addictions, relationships, and how to get themselves or their friends out of vulnerable situations and make good decisions themselves. There are lots of people around them and in the media telling them who they should be, what they should do, and what they should wear.”

Rotary recently had a chance to hear the impact the program has on these girls. “It was an eyeopener for Rotary to see how much this helps in the community,” said Club President Brandy Van Gelder. “(Some of the girls) came to talk to us. The program brought them out of their shells and allowed them to communicate more confidently.”

HHS student Santana Symons took the YWCA’s Girlz Unplugged program. Girlz Choice is a natural extension of that. “We learned about what to do when you’re in a certain situation. It’s a really good place to tell people things and not have to worry about them spreading rumours about you, or asking questions about things that you might be uncomfortable asking other people.”

“You could talk to everyone and not have to worry about (what they think),” added student Melissa Malloy.

Teacher and student liaison Andrea Laidlaw has been helping to facilitate the program at the high school for the past three of its 11 years. “Marcy (Hill, YWCA Muskoka’s program facilitator) creates a safe and welcoming space. It’s a really safe place for them to let their guard down and talk about things that are happening at school or at home.”

Hill, who has been facilitating the program for the past 10 years, recalled a situation early in the last session that underscored the effect it has on girls. “One day one of the girls was being really mean to herself and I told her: ‘Don’t ever talk about yourself that way. You hear every word you say. I would never let you talk about someone else that way; you can’t talk about yourself that way either.’ We tear a little bit of ourselves off each time we do that. I didn’t think it sunk in but now she talks so confidently.”

It’s a result Hill sees often. “Even just being recommended for the program – it says that someone believed in them enough to know this would be the springboard they needed.”

It’s like watching a butterfly – the girls come in all closed up and not wanting to share, but the minute they do they give permission to someone else to share their problems, too. They don’t normally see each other’s struggles, but they realize they all have similar struggles and insecurities and they start to come up with ideas to help lift up another girl who is sharing their own issues. And in doing that they become empowered without even realizing it.
Girlz Choice facilitator, Marcy Hill

The effects of the program are long reaching, acting as a catalyst for the girls to become confident young women. Past participants have even returned as mentors or have gone on to take the YWCA’s Young Women Entrepreneurs Program (YWEP) with an interest in starting their own business.

“It’s interesting how it all interconnects,” said Hill. “When they let those walls come down, the result is magical.”

Learn more about YWCA Muskoka’s youth programs here.