Aleaya Spicer | 30, June 2011
Ms.Shawnta Pulliam
My Name Is Aleaya Spicer and, I am a Former Student of the Nurturing Hearts Program, I became involved with Nurturing Hearts when I was in a Residential Treatment Facility in Erie, pa at age 15 in 2006. I am from Philadelphia, and I was put into placement for making the wrong choices when I was young such as; not going to school, and Behavioral Problems.
After a few months in placement one day we had a knock at our door and it was Ms.Shawnta and she came in and greeted us and told us that she would be running a group with our unit and another unit for a couple months. Every Saturday Ms. Shawnta would come to the Unit that I was assigned to and she would speak to us about her life and how she had things in common with us. Ms.Shawnta talked about the positive outcomes of life that she knew that we needed to hear about.
Ms.Shawnta told us never to take life for granted because we did not know what to expect in the middle and ending of it. She taught us to also hold our heads up high and never let no one or anything bring it down. Ms.Shawnta taught us the Meaning of respect. I think that Ms.Shawnta was a big influence because, before she came I was doing terrible in placement and it was not getting me anywhere. While I was in placement I was not able to go home and I also was struggling on working on my behavior. She would give us all words of encouragement and I made sure I took everything that she was saying to the heart which I did.
Nurturing Hearts was a very great/successful program and I am thankful for being a part of it. March 2007 was the last day of the Program and Ms.Shawnta arranged a closing Ceremony which involved Singing, Dancing, Poetry, Fashion Shows, and Prayer, she also got the Erie Times News Paper Writers to come Participate also, and at the end of the Ceremony we were given Plaques for Achieving the Nurturing Hearts Program.
I finally got out of Placement at age 18 and I came back to Philadelphia and Graduated High School and Went to College Majoring in Corporate Communications. Now I am 20 years old and I work For the School District of Philadelphia as a Noon Time Aid at an Elementary School. I thank Ms.Shawnta till this Day for bringing The Nurturing Hearts Program into My life and I am thankful she let me be a part of it. Till This Very Day I still keep in Contact with Ms.Shawnta Because Meeting her was a blessing and I am Still a Part of The Nurturing Hearts Program .
Dominique Kafando struggled to stay in school just 12 months ago. The Central Career and Technical School student had D's and F's on her report card, and had been assigned to Central's alternative-education school. "I was missing a lot of classes," said Kafando, 18. "I didn't care much about school." A teacher referred Kafando to Nurturing Hearts, a local nonprofit organization that provides leadership and life skills for teenage girls.
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We empower young women to have productive futures through holistic, gender specific programs, educations and experiences that are unique to young women.Spiritual Strength
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Nuturing Hearts works to create a positive self-esteem in girls, helping them to recognize and celebrate their Inner and Outer Beauty.Motivation & Role Models
Through the use of motivational speaking and role models, Nuturing Hearts works to educate young girls on how to overcome life's obstacles.Who Are We
Nurturing Hearts is a non-profit organization that provides supportive leadership, motivation and life skills, which furnish and prepare girls 10-18 for a bright and positive future.