Rosie’s Girls Awarded $15,000

The Rosie’s Girls Santa Monica program, an intensive, three-week summer program for girls designed to build self-esteem and leadership, has been awarded a Women’s Foundation of California Los Angeles Donor Circle $15,000 grant.

The grant will provide scholarship funding for girls who would otherwise not be able to afford the Rosie’s Girls program and support an ongoing Apprentice Program for Rosie’s Girls alumnae.

The Rosie’s Girls Santa Monica program is provided through the collaborative efforts of the Community and Cultural Services and Community Maintenance Departments. During the Rosie’s Girls intensive camp sessions, girls learn skilled trades such as carpentry, firefighting, plumbing, welding, tree trimming and automotive repair.

They build confidence through participation in physical challenges including a high-altitude ropes course, surfing, and kayaking. These physical challenges create the opportunity for girls to take risks, experience something they might have otherwise avoided, provide support to each other, and be successful at the kinds of activities usually reserved for boys.

The Apprentice Program, now entering its third year, brings Rosie’s Girls alumnae 14 years and older back to the camp in a counselor-in-training role to enhance their leadership, employment, and fiscal literacy skills.

The Apprentices, or, as they are better known, the “A-Team”, take the lead in developing and managing the Rosie’s Girls community service project for each session, including management of its budget and related entrepreneurship components.

The A-Team reflects the City’s commitment to creating a full continuum of mentoring, employment skill-building and hiring opportunities for young people. The Women’s Foundation grant will provide stipends to the A-Team members.

Last summer, under the guidance of skilled tradespeople, Camp participants made stepping stones for the garden of a local shelter for victims of domestic violence. The embellished tiles were engraved with phrases such as "hope," "a new beginning" and "stay strong."

Members of the A-Team then went to the shelter as volunteer gardeners to help the women at the shelter create a pathway in the garden with some of the stepping stones.

Now, when a new woman arrives at the shelter, they are encouraged to select and install one of the remaining tiles that “speaks to her.” The experience has been powerful, and now the garden has several new pathways created with Rosie’s Girls tiles!

Rosie’s Girls Santa Monica is held at the City Maintenance Yards, 2500 Michigan Avenue. For more information about the Women’s Foundation of California, please visit http://www.womensfoundca.org.