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Organization Spotlight: Get to know S.T.E.P.S. Inc.
 When it comes to empowering and mentoring young women in the community, S.T.E.P.S. Inc. ("Striving Toward Empowered Personal Success") has been working to support adolescent girls in Groton and New London since 2008. S.T.E.P.S. works with students in the middle and high schools through training, intervention and mentoring, as well as a 2-week Summer Leadership Program and a regional Young Women's Leadership Conference. The students S.T.E.P.S. serves are socially, emotionally, and economically in need of support. All students participating in the program are eligible for free or reduced lunch through their schools. Of the students who are coming from single parent homes (44%), 88% are being raised by single mothers.
In the fall of 2018, S.T.E.P.S. applied for a grant through the Chelsea Groton Foundation to provide self-esteem, self-efficacy, leadership, and empowerment training to 200 girls ages 10 to 18 in Groton, New London, and Norwich. The Foundation saw the benefit of helping girls from diverse backgrounds who were in need of support and provided a $1,000 grant to be used toward the 30-week afterschool program.
The afterschool program provides education, resources, mentoring, free programs and transportation, food, and other services. Facilitators and community volunteers present interactive educational workshops on topics such as self-esteem, financial management, leadership, dress-for-success, dating violence, positive body image, wellness, persistence, leadership, and community involvement. All S.T.E.P.S. programming covers key topics that teenage girls face in their daily lives and provides them with skills needed to become empowered, positive members of their communities able to break down barriers to success.
Here is what some students from area schools had to say about participating in the S.T.E.P.S. program:
- "S.T.E.P.S. has helped me get out of unhealthy relationships, it opened my eyes on how important it is to be open-minded and try new opportunities. It helps me deal with my anxiety and depression and makes me look forward to school on Tuesdays." (New London High School)
- "As I keep on saying, and as I will forever say, S.T.E.P.S. has saved my life. They helped me to realize that I am worth living and I am worth the time of day. I will forever be grateful for S.T.E.P.S." (Fitch High School)
- "S.T.E.P.S. has done many things to help me in my life. I have met a lot of new people. It has also taught me about self-esteem and confidence. I also learned the dangers of social media. This will be very useful to know when I get a social media account. S.T.E.P.S. helped me to love myself." (West Side Middle School - Groton)
- "Learning to appreciate our self-worth and value in a society that teaches us everything but that, has been so important. S.T.E.P.S. is the sisterhood that girls have always dreamed about having, and it has become a reality for us." (New London High School)
The Chelsea Groton Foundation believes in the mission of the S.T.E.P.S. program and has funded nearly $7,000 in grants for the organization since 2011. For more information on S.T.E.P.S. and the work they do in our shared community, please visit stepsct.org.
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