BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Kiwanis Club of Starke members heard about a nonprofit organization that supports girls ages 12-17 and is interested in serving Bradford County.
Erica Wortherly, Reach Program manager for Pace Center for Girls, Clay, was the guest speaker at the Kiwanis Club’s Aug. 19 meeting. Pace Center, which provides services in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.
“Our mission is to provide girls and young women with an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy,” Wortherly said.
Pace offers day programs in which girls attend school and receive mental-health support, life-skills training and college/career prep. Those are provided at Pace centers, with the closest centers to Bradford County being in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Middleburg. School services at a Pace centers are aligned with the curriculum of the school districts in which they’re located and adhere to Florida Department of Education requirements.
The Reach Program consists of therapists who support girls in their local schools, within their communities or in their homes.
Wortherly said the goal right now is to possibly have a therapist who would work in Bradford County.
When asked by a Kiwanis member how girls would be referred to the therapist, Wortherly said, “On the website, there is a way for families to fill out forms. They can be referred through the website. They also have a form that can be shared with school counselors. If the school counselors identify someone, or school social workers identify someone, then they can be sent to me. I typically am the one who shares the information with the therapist.”
Wortherly said part of the reason for Pace Center for Girls being created was that a lot of similar organizations existed to serve boys.
“The founder’s desire was to have something more specifically that catered to girls and girls’ needs,” she said.
Vicki Burke founded Pace in 1985, with the first center launched with 10 girls in Jacksonville. It was a way of reaching girls with trauma-induced behaviors who were entering the juvenile-justice system.
“Over the last 40 years, we’ve impacted the lives of more than 40,000 girls and young women, providing them with the tools and the opportunities they need to overcome adversity and achieve their dreams,” Wortherly said. “At Pace, we believe everyone deserves a path to success.”
Wortherly said though she hated to use the term “baggage,” she said that’s what girls bring with them to Pace. Girls served by Pace may have been abused verbally, physically or sexually. They may have parents who are on drugs, in prison or deceased. They may be in foster care.
At Pace, unlike some other environments, the focus is on the girl and not the baggage, Wortherly said, adding, “We really wrap our arms around them and show them a different way of living, where they can be successful, where they can become mentors and where they can be role models for other young people.”
Pace operates under nine values and guiding principles: honor the female spirit, focus on strengths, act with integrity and positive intent, embrace growth and change, value the wisdom of time, exhibit courage, seek excellence, create partnerships, and invest in the future.
Wortherly shared some stats, including the fact that seven in 10 girls attending Pace improved academically (measured by Florida STAR testing). Eight in 10 girls were failing school six months prior to attending Pace.
“We had one young lady this past spring who was at Pace for two years and graduated at 16 years old and was able to be admitted to and got a scholarship from (Jacksonville University),” Wortherly said.
Wortherly said eight out of 10 girls demonstrate disturbing behavior related to juvenile delinquency before Pace. Afterward, eight out of 10 become more confident in themselves and believe they can accomplish goals and succeed in life.
Regarding the Reach Program specifically, five out of 10 girls feel sad and hopeless and have thoughts of self-harm before Pace, Wortherly said. Afterward, eight out of 10 improve in healthy social relationships with their family and peers. Wortherly added that girls also become more engaged in school and their community.
“When properly supported, all girls have the power to achieve their own vision of success, leading to positive outcomes for themselves, their families and their communities,” Wortherly said.
The family is not taken out of the equation that hopefully leads to success. Monthly meetings are scheduled with one or both parents of a girl in the Day Program or the Reach program.
“We do family sessions in addition to individual sessions so that the families can find better, healthier ways to communicate and understand their youth’s mental-health challenges and what may be going on socially, relationally and with some of the behaviors they’re experiencing so that the parents have a better idea of understanding versus reacting,” Wortherly said. “A lot of youth are reacting because parents are also reacting.
“It’s just teaching them better ways and healthier ways to communicate.”
Worherly talked of a girl whose mother went to prison. She moved from the state she was living in to live with her father. The girl talked of “co-existing” with her father. They lived in the same house, but didn’t do any activities together or even get along.
After the father attended meetings with Pace personnel, the relationship he had with his daughter improved, with both of them involved together in such activities as going to the gym and attending concerts.
“They’re actually working to get to know each other and having conversations versus just kind of passing each other in the home,” Wortherly said.
Wortherly said Pace is always looking for volunteers to fulfill its goal of improving young lives.
“It’s a heavy lift for one person,” Wortherly said, “but as a community, with all of us doing the same thing, the girls become much more confident.”
If you’d like to learn more about Pace, please visit pacecenter.org.
