WISE

It's Wednesday and I'm happy. Whyyy am I happy? The same reason I'm happy on Mondays, and the same reason all spring I was happy on Saturdays. I get to volunteer. [Pause] Why I haven't written about this earlier - is a complete mystery to me. [Resume] Since mid-to-late March, I've been volunteering (most) every Saturday with the Women's Initiative for Self Empowerment or WISE. & after only one week I fell madly, deeply, over the moon and back in loooove with this organization. Their mission is, Empowering immigrant women and girls to succeed. Need I say more? 

I will. According to their website W.I.S.E, "is a multicultural 501(c)3 nonprofit organization serving African, Asian and Latino immigrant/refugee women and girls from all countries, cultures, and socio-economic backgrounds. WISE started in 1995 to provide opportunities for women and girls in the immigrant communities to achieve their full potential and to increase their skills towards economic success WISE fulfills its mission for empowering immigrant women & girls to succeed via four strategies: Leadership Development, Access to Health, Wealth Creation, Technical Assistance"

Although WISE has many programs for adults and youth alike, I personally volunteer with the Girls Getting Ahead in Leadership Program (GGAL). I L-O-V-E it. GGAL is a program for immigrant/refugee girls in their Sophomore, Junior and Senior years of High School. Weekly workshops include college preparation, leadership development, academic skill building, group activities, local field trips, and community involvement. Myself and many other volunteers come as mentors for the girls offering one-on-one support for- anything! Scholarship/financial aid assistance, English/homework tutoring ...

Honestly, most of the time I feel like the girls teach me more then I will ever be able to teach them. They are all so full of life, motivation, creativity, and excitement despite all the hardships of being new to a culture. For our Lemonade Day event my team's name was The Angels, and I couldn't agree more.

HAVE I MENTIONED THAT I LOVE WISE? This year I decided that the WISE end-of-year networking dinner was my top choice for a birthday dinner. I dragged Mike along reluctantly, but when we got into the car afterwards not only was he a number one fan of WISE as well, but looked at me and said, "I understand why you love it so much." & folks, trust me, if Mike noticed something like this - it is both obvious & huge.

Thankfully, my volunteering didn't need to end with the networking dinner because GGAL has summer programs! For the next month I'll be spending my Mondays and Wednesdays volunteering at The Canvas for GGAL Summer Arts! Where the girls will meet and learn from local artists, learn the importance of cultural identity through art, go on field trips, and have funnnn being creative!

Isn't it sweet? So sweet you didn't even mind my mini novel of loving praises, ya?

One more time - I LOVE WISE!