The Power of Parents in Groups

This morning was the Orientation Meeting for our 2011 DIVAS Summer Mentoring Program. At around 9:45 am I was having flashbacks from last year- one parent, two girls and three facilitators. At 9:55 am, same. However, around 10:03 am, people started trickling in, greeting each other. By the time the meeting was in full launch at around 10:25 am, the room was full of parents and program participants. There was also something else happening; mothers were greeting and meeting each other, daughters were engaged in the planning of the meeting--- there was audible and physical 'community' happening, and it was AWESOME... it was AWESOME.


As we gathered to audit our summer schedule, I realized that the way we communicated with each other and connected with the overarching spirit of this program was an answer to prayer. I mean, needs were voiced, provisions were made; ideas were presented, plans of action were adopted. Constructive critisicism, encouragement, creativity, and enthusiasm merged together and I truly believe this program has established the grassroots to become the statewide model we dreamed of in 1999.

How it will all play out this summer, we will see. Six weeks is a long time, but it also goes by in the blink of an eye. My thoughts are that it will all turn out exceptionally beautiful in the end:). Blessings, CH

My Prayer List for DIVAS 2011

There is something about writing out your expectations... as if just because you took the time to put your thoughts "out there" it somehow makes you accountable to make sure that your goals are reached.  As we prepare for this year's summer program, there are a host of "wishes" I would like to see fulfilled... I hope I am not alone in my thinking.  You may have a few of your own... please feel free to post your thoughts as well!

1.  I hope that all 30 seats will be filled with young woment of great diversity of gifts and talents;
2.  I hope they come with parents who are eager to join in and be an integral part of the program;
3.  I hope that all of the goals of our curriculum truly serve the needs of our participants;
4.  I hope our Program Facilitators grow even more confident in their capacity to reach our young women with the truth first and fun second;
5.  I hope DIVAS 2011 come as participants and leave as Sisters;
6.  I hope that this program will go to a spiritual level that it has never been before and reach hearts as well as minds;
7.  I hope that the daughters and parents of our program will grow closer and stronger;
8.  I hope that the community will put its arms around this initiative and give us what we need to launch these young women into successful, grounded futures;
9.  I hope that this year's Rites of Passage Banquet will be the most beautiful, most uplifting, most remarkable event in our 11 year history and will serve as an adequate lauch for our statewide initiative.
10. I hope that the LORD will be glorified in all of it and lay His hands upon all involved.

This year feels as if it is the pace setter for the years to come; please keep us in your prayers so that we can win our youth back from popular culture and set them on a road to success and blessing.  If you would like to help, please shoot us an email at divasflorida@gmail.com. Blessings, CH

Getting Ready for 'Round 12...

I would have never imagined that when DIVAS launched it's inaugural year in 1999, that 12 years later we would be still here.  I imagined that both me and then co-facilitator Krystal Gooding would have graduated from University and gotten married, living somewhere else with our own children and going through similar trials that we saw the parents of our participants going through with their children. 

Now, in 2011, we are planning for our 12th DIVAS Summer Class and it is quite surreal how culture and teenagers have changed but also how things have remained the same.  In the meanwhile, we have established traditions that have stood the test of time, deficits, layoffs, fallouts, and life in general.  We have had over 300 young women participate in the program in the last 11 years, and now we have former DIVAS coming back to work with the summer program to keep it alive as a community tradition.  Boy, am I getting older;)

But there are also greater, more exciting things to come.  This year's DIVAS Summer Program will launch our statewide DIVASFlorida Mentoring Network.  This network will serve as a forum for communities of women to help launch programs in their City/County and provide resources, information, motivation, and support as they seek to transform their society and their lives.  I AM SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS... it's been a long time coming! 

I personally invite women in Tallahasse, Leon County, and the Big Bend region who have a heart for youth to join us as we start a movement towards reclaiming true womanhood... one DIVA at a time.  For more information on how you  or your organization can get involved, please email us at DIVASFlorida@gmail.com.