The Girls Empowerment Camp Fund seeks to address a critical need in our community: preparing girls for adolescence and adulthood.

The Girls Empowerment Camp, which was founded in 2025, meets this need by providing an uplifting, fun, enriching experience where girls ages 9 - 11 years are empowered to become their best selves. Attending the camp provides a wealth of information and ideas to help them look positively at their future.

The inaugural program was funded through a generous grant by the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland.

Our mission is to provide a safe, supportive, holistic environment where campers can learn about making good choices, explore creativity, learn life skills, and appreciate the importance of developing and maintaining a healthy mind and body.

Girls in our community are faced with challenges that directly impact their future. Black and Brown girls begin puberty at an earlier age than their peers. This physiological change puts them at higher risk of Adultification where they are treated as if they are older than their chronological and developmental age. Adultification deprives them of years of childhood, as well as the grace usually afforded their age group. They are subjected to harsher discipline at school, as well as in the juvenile justice system. Early puberty also puts girls at risk for sexual abuse and trafficking. A recent medical study has shown that the effects of early puberty reverberates into adulthood with women being at higher risk for obesity, diabetes, and breast cancer.

We believe that age-appropriate education, in a safe and supportive environment, is a way to mitigate the challenges these soon to be young women will face. As originally conceived, the camp covers five modules: healthy body, healthy mind, healthy choices, creative expression and life skills.

This holistic approach enables campers to explore a wide range of important topics. For example, during our 2025 camp, we had presentations by the health department on puberty, as well as talks by healthcare professionals on diabetes, asthma, and social media. The girls also created vision journals, explored creativity through landscape painting and creative writing. Physical exercise was promoted and encouraged by sessions on yoga and line dancing, as well as ‘old school’ activities such as jump rope and playing Twister. Yoga

An etiquette lesson was given and the following day we had a real tea party:

Healthy eating and nutrition habits were reinforced by freshly prepared breakfast and lunch by a certified chef.

Our goal for the 2026 Girls Empowerment Camp Fund is to raise sufficient funds to reach even more girls in our community and city.

Girls Empowerment Fund

By Vestry of the Church of the Holy Trinty

Girls Empowerment Fund