Founded in 1997, GIRLS 2000 is the Hunters Point Family’s seminal program, and was designed specifically to meet the needs of girls and their families living in Hunters Point’s public housing community.
GIRLS 2000 began in a room in the Hunters Point Recreational facility. Within a year, enrollment increased to more than thirty and the program outgrew its location. In the spring of 1999, the program moved to 763 Jerrold Avenue, in Hunters Point’s Harbor Road housing developments. The program comfortable and easy for girls and their families to access because the program delivers quality and professional services within the context of the environment. GIRLS 2000 is currently the only female specific program in Bayview Hunters Point.
GIRLS 200 began just before the advent of girls specific programming began to rise; therefore, we didn’t have many models or allies to learn from or grow with. Our location on Harbor Road further contributed to our sense of isolation; yet, this also left us free to develop our own unique style of programming that is tailor made for our population of girls. Our original philosophy and concept was to create a program that is like an extended family for girls who have little to no social support at home. The program provided “everything girls need to succeed” as GIRLS 2000’s tagline suggests.
Throughout the years, HPF has learned that gender specific programming is most effective for teenage girls. Girls are often intimidated or inhibited in mixed gender groups, allowing the boys to make most of the decisions and take on leadership roles, while they accept passive roles. In BVHP this phenomena is even more pronounced as many of the young men are involved in high-stakes lifestyles that can lead to life/death situations. Often times, we notice our girls seeking out the love and attention of the males who are most destructive, or acting out similar behaviors so that they may claim the attention and what they perceive as “respect” from their peers. GIRLS 2000 was designed to be a “safe place” where girls can come together to get support around positive behaviors and look critically at destructive behaviors. We encourage young women to think about solutions to some of these issues and provide them the means to act through community service projects, where they assume leadership roles. In girls-specific groups, girls become less inhibited, more confident about their decisions and secure in exercising leadership.
GIRLS 2000 invests in the spirit of each girl by cultivating her motivation, self-esteem, and confidence so that she will be prepared to venture into society and claim her dreams. The underlying philosophy of the GIRLS 2000 program is that all children can succeed if they have the proper tools and guidance. In this vein, every service and activity is designed to provide young women with exposure and experiences that give them strength to overcome obstacles, hope to dream about the future, and confidence to achieve those dreams. Thus, GIRLS 2000 empowers girls to overcome any obstacle that stands between them and their most positive destiny.
GIRLS 2000 provides services to a core of 50 girls and young women, ages 10 through 21. Program services and activities include computer instruction and support, academic tutoring, group and individual therapeutic counseling, career mentoring, field trips, art projects, cooking classes, community gardening and beautification, employment, the arts and life skills training. In addition to these core services and activities GIRLS 2000 specializes in leadership development and team building through the Hunters Point Girls Leadership Institute.
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