GEN's Voice

Issue 29
November 2003

In This Issue:

Here’s what’s going on in November:

"The Best of Friends: Helping Girls Navigate Peer Relationships" Ever feel confused, angry, or hurt even toward your best friend? Ever feel too much pressure at school? Well, if you have experienced either or both of these that makes you normal. But even “normal” can be really hard to deal with. In this workshop, Annette Del Canto, an Austin therapist, will help you better understand your friendships with girlfriends, and give you some constructive ideas on how to change uncomfortable relationship patterns. Annette Del Canto, LMSW, practices psychotherapy in Austin, Texas, with Psychotherapy Associates of Arlene Montgomery, PhD, LMSW-ACP, and is a Health Educator & Counselor with SafePlace: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Center.

For girls.
Tuesday, November 4, 3:30 p.m.-5:00 p.m., Trinity Episcopal School

"Honor, Pride, and Self-Assurance" This program works with girls to encourage them to develop and stick with their own values as they develop into young women. Join Shantay Spears and Monica Leal as they interact with girls to help them build a strong sense of honor, pride and self-assurance as they enter the world of adulthood.

For girls.
Thursday, November 6, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., Burnet Middle School

"Mom, Leave Me Alone! But First, Can You Take Me to the Mall?" A local therapist will help girls learn to express themselves in a language that parents understand and appreciate. Learn how you can communicate effectively with your mom in a way that both gives and commands respect. Communicate your needs and understand your mom’s needs, too.

For girls & mothers.
Thursday, November 6, 3:30 –5:00 p.m., Deer Park Middle School

"10 Things Dads Can Do To Support Strong, Smart, Savvy Daughters" Studies show fathers have an enormous influence over their daughters’ future success and happiness. Michael Hayes will facilitate a practical, from-the-heart discussion among fathers, daughters and those who care about them about what fathers can do to help their daughters grow up feeling confident, competent and able to make successful choices in both work and relationships.

For girls & fathers.
Thursday, November 13, 7:45 a.m., Canyon Vista Middle School

"Fulmore Middle School Parent Night" Karen Hampton a LMSW-ACP social worker and Suzi McCoy, M.S LPC will do presentations followed by question and answer sessions on the topics of female aggression and helping raise daughters to be successful.

For parents.
Thursday, November 13, starting at 5:00 p.m., Fulmore Middle School

Mark your calendars for January 22, 2004, when GENaustin will host bestselling author Rachel Simmons. Simmons wrote the New York Times bestseller Odd Girl Out: The Hidden Culture of Aggression in Girls, the first book to explore the phenomenon of bullying between girls. Her brand new book out in December, Odd Girl Speaks Out: Girls Write About Bullies, Cliques, Popularity, and Jealousy, delves further into the issue, but this time from girls’ perspectives. She will be GENaustin’s guest on a panel along with teen girls who will to give frank and honest advice as well as answer questions of girls and parents.  The event will take place at the Dell Jewish Community Center.

Simmons’ work has been profiled in media ranging from The Oprah Winfrey Show to The Washington Post. She is currently the director of The Girls’ Leadership Institute, a Sidwell Friends summer program and a consultant to schools all over the country. She lives in Brooklyn.

Stay tuned to the GENaustin Web site for more details.

Marjan Abedi, a volunteer with GENaustin, was honored on October 10^th with a YWCA Women of the Year Award. Miranda Oropeza, GENaustin’s Program Assistant, nominated her for the Young Women of Achievement Award.

Marjan has served as a teen facilitator for clubGEN for two years. During that time, she has gone beyond our highest volunteer expectations. Not only did she excellently fulfill her role as facilitator for clubGEN, she also led the initiative to keep her club alive when plans to delay it for a year came in to play. Marjan did not give up when the adult sponsor for clubGEN resigned. Instead she took the lead in immediately recruiting a replacement, normally the job of three adults. When only one middle school girl arrived to the first clubGEN meeting, Marjan spearheaded the process of marketing the club to young girls which successfully resulted in creating the largest club in Austin. She even volunteered to create curriculum for the first and second clubGEN program manual during her summer vacation months. She was also one of a select few of Austin teens that led a summer clubGEN program.

Marjan is a very active young woman. In addition to her work with GENaustin, she is also a volunteer for the Austin Children’s Shelter and holds leadership positions in several clubs at her school. As a PAL at her high school, she mentors four children each week on an individual basis. Despite this busy schedule, she has been able to maintain a 4.4 grade point average.

“I have been more than impressed by Marjan’s generous contribution of time, patience, and soothing energy,” wrote Miranda. “Her radiance has been felt from the very moment she joined our program. Her enthusiasm is contagious, and her passion for volunteering never ceases. It is almost magical the way she is able to give each commitment her intense and undivided attention.”

Marjan plans to attend the University of Texas in Austin and double major in both elementary education and pre-medicine. She then hopes to become a pediatrician and to continue volunteering in her community.

The volunteer spotlight shines this month on mega-volunteer Becca Bruce. Becca joined the board of GENaustin in 2002, and also serves as the co-chair of the Volunteer Committee, chair of the clubGEN Curriculum Committee, and is a member of the Resource Development Committee.

Becca has more than eight years of experience in affordable housing financing and development, with an emphasis on obtaining financing for nonprofit sponsors. The consulting business she owns, Vacri Development and Consulting, provides services primarily to nonprofit organizations to develop affordable housing. Prior to consulting on her own, she was a Vice President at Diana McIver & Associates, a housing consulting firm that works nationwide and more recently worked for Foundation Communities, a local nonprofit that owns, manages and develops affordable housing communities in Austin. Becca also recently joined Southwest Strategies Group, as a Commercial Real Estate Agent.

She has held positions in a variety of community groups, including serving as a Big Sister for Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Central Texas. She is also a member of the 2003-04 class of Leadership Austin.

Becca joined the board of GENaustin in November of 2002 as a way to make an impact on the lives of local girls. “I was very shy in middle school, and I feel strongly about empowering young girls to feel comfortable in their own skin and to do something that addresses the challenges all kids face, especially girls, growing up today,” said Becca. “Plus the members of the board of GENaustin are an amazing group of women who I continue to learn from!”

From her co-volunteers at GEN, “Working with Becca is a dream. She is organized, energetic, reliable and very pleasant to work with. She is a valuable asset to GENaustin and a wonderful representative of what we do – empower women.”

Enter Mrs. Williamson’s class room at Bailey middle school, on any Tuesday after school and you will find friendships being made as girls laugh and talk like sisters, sharing their thoughts, feelings, and aspirations. Welcome to clubGEN!

In its third year since inception, the club is widely popular and in its strongest stage. You will now find clubGEN in sixteen schools! The after school program is facilitated by trained high school juniors and senior girls, who meet once a week with middle school girls to introduce activities on a variety of topics effecting the young girl’s overall self esteem, and self worth. Topics range from friendship and family relationships, to eating disorders, being assertive, and reaching goals.

Today the girls at Bailey middle school learned about making new friendships and about the importance of having girlfriends in their life.

One young participant said, “I love clubGEN because it’s like having twelve big sisters.”

Another chimed in with “yeah I feel comfortable talking about anything here, and I look forward to club every week.”

High school facilitators agree that the experience is amazing. One facilitator expressed that she was learning a lot about herself and her purpose in life, “I never knew I was such a team leader, clubGEN has allowed me to find my inner leader voice.”

The Bowie high school and Bailey middle school club have only had five meetings since school began, but the girls have a lot of plans in store for the rest of the year. They plan to allow the middle school girls shadow the facilitators, for a day at high school. They also plan to host a “Bring Your Mom to Club Day.” They are also thinking of bringing in guest speakers to talk with their girls.

GENaustin's programs are made possible through the generous support of 3M, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Meyer Foundation, Austin Independent School District, Austin Wine Merchant, Austin Ventures, the Dell Foundation, the Favrot Foundation, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, the Silverton Foundation, Milkshake Media, Shoes for Austin and the Webber Family Foundation.

GENaustin has been selected to take part in Buffalo Exchange’s Tokens for Bags Program. The program allows customers to choose to receive a token instead of a bag when making their purchase and the token represents a cash donation to a particular charity. So the next time you’re shopping at Buffalo Exchange (2904 Guadalupe), be sure to forego the bag and help out GENaustin by placing your token in our box. Our box is in the middle!

Now you can support GENaustin and its important programs simply by shopping online. Just go to http://www.genaustin.org/public/content/getinvolved/shop.asp and follow the links to more than 400 stores, including Barnes & Noble, Land's End, Ann Taylor, Linens-n-Things, Neiman Marcus, L.L. Bean, Dell, Amazon.com, JC Penney, Old Navy, Gap and many more!

Also, mention GENaustin when you shop at Giada, a unique boutique and gift shop just west of downtown, and 2% of your sale will go directly to GENaustin. GENaustin is excited to be a part of Giada's Community Investment Program. Giada is located at 704 W. 6th St., one block west of Katz' Deli. The phone number for Giada is (512) 457-8881.

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This site was last updated on 1/04/2005.

Copyright © GENaustin, Inc. 2001. All rights reserved. GEN, GENaustin, and GENaustin logos used and displayed herein are registered and unregistered trademarks of GENaustin, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks and logos used herein are the property of their respective owners. Email us at office@genaustin.org.