JEWELS Foundation empower young women
Carla Scott-Strickland and Dr. Ladadriel Eastman want to make a difference for young women.
From that collective desire comes the JEWELS Foundation, a nonprofit organization taking aim in providing guidance for at-risk girls ages 11 to 18 who may be coming up in unstable home environments.
Strickland and Eastman are the president and vice president of the effort, respectively. They formed JEWELS because they want to educate and empower young women as they grow into adults, particularly women who may lack sufficient guidance during their formative years.
Eastman said the collaboration is the realization of a longtime dream for each. Strickland and Eastman share a belief that there are too many young females in need of guidance, and they wish to lend a helping hand.
“Many young ladies have a very unstable home environment coming up,” Eastman said. “We felt we had some gifts and talents that we could impart.”
JEWELS is just starting. Eastman said she and Strickland have already registered the non-profit organization with the secretary of state and want to get young women started on the curriculum.
Eastman said there are four main elements of the JEWELS curriculum, including education, community service, spirituality and health and hygiene.
On the education element, Eastman said one example she hopes to establish is a visit to Xavier University, her alma-mater. Visiting classes and getting a first-hand view of what college has to offer, she hopes, will inspire young women to pursue higher education as a goal.
“You’d like that to jog them to want to go,” Eastman said. “If they can see what is out there for themselves, it could make a big difference.”
She said establishing involvement in community service at a young age makes it more likely the girls will stay involved later on. She also said a goal is for the students to develop a sense of and respect for a higher power, and to develop an understanding of how to take care of and respect oneself.
She said an event is already planned, set to take place at the Destrehan library on West Campus Dr. Jan. 9 from 1 to 3 p.m.
The discussion, titled “Community Girl Talk,” will touch upon some of the key issues facing young women in their development. Those issues include what constitutes acceptable behavior, dealing with verbal and physical abuse, cyber bullying and self-image. The event will be hosted by four panelists: LeNeshia Markey, Reanda Pierre, Kara Washington and Athena Butler.
The latter issue of maintaining a positive self-image, Eastman said, is a challenge to many.
“You see videos, magazines, telling you what you’re supposed to look like that when, after all the photoshopping, not even that person looks like that person,” she said. The foundation’s motto is “Brilliance Ahead.”“We want to help women reach their potential,” Eastman said. “We feel like we can make a really positive impact. We see a need for positive female role models and we want to do everything we can to provide that as best we can. We believe our younger generation of ladies need more guidance, encouragement and support than ever.”
The group has established a GoFundMe page to accept donations, the funds to be utilized to achieve 501 © (3) status and to establish activities and events for the girls entering the program.
The page can be found at gofundme.com/beajewel. For more information, one may contact the founders at jewelsfoundationinc@gmail.com.
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