One of the greatest joys of our work is witnessing girls thrive when given the chance! But it’s heartbreaking to watch talented young women be passed over for opportunities because of barriers like English proficiency, gender identity, or race.

We will never forget Aissatou, who joined our workshop "Discover Your Inner Warrior" series in the fall of 2021 as a high school sophomore. Without support, before our program, she struggled during the COVID-19 Quarantine of her freshman year of high school to keep up with her school work, unsure of how to pursue her dreams. But with your help, she gained confidence, received mentorship, and blossomed into a leader. Now, she’s on track to be one of the first in her family to attend college.

Or women who are further in their careers, like Belem-who graduated from high school in 2022!

As a high school senior she recounted her time with Athena's Warehouse:

"This program means a lot to me. I'm grateful that Athena's Warehouse was able to have a lot of wonderful speakers come out to each workshop. Unfortunately I struggled with depression. There was so much pressure and stress and I couldn't keep it all together. I would go home and to my room I would have breakdowns and most of the time I would hyperventilate to the point where I couldn't even breathe...

I don't talk about my past struggles as much but I'm glad to say that I no longer go through depression like I did before... and I'm glad because of the free group therapy from Athena's Warehouse. "

There are so many girls like Belem & Aissatou who are just waiting for a chance to succeed. Your donation can make that happen. When you give, you’re not just offering financial support—you’re creating a bridge to make their dreams a reality.

Will you help us continue empowering girls like Aissatou? A donation of $10 or more per month can be life changing.

Thank you for believing in the potential of every girl!

100% of this fundraiser supports the 15 year long work of Athena's Warehouse a 501c3 in Atlanta, GA uniquely serving teens & adolescents growing out of poverty with holistic professional & personal interventions! Subscribe to our newsletter for more information: bit.ly/newsletter-aw

About Athena's Warehouse

More info: https://athenaswarehouse.org

We were founded in 2009 by current State House Representative Bee Nguyen who wanted to share the joy of sisterhood with teens in metro-Atlanta. As the daughter of immigrant parents, founder Bee Nguyen watched as her father worked two jobs while her mother, with limited English proficiency, raised five girls in an unfamiliar country. Having fled from Vietnam, and after enduring unimaginable hardships her parents always emphasized the value of education and economic independence. Bee soon discovered within herself a talent for entrepreneurship and an innate love for women and girls. Combining these passions, Athena’s Warehouse was born to be a safe haven for young women facing poverty, and hardships related to their immigrant status.

Our program brings students across various age groups, grades, and ethnicities together in a collaborative, healing space. Students work together to solve social issues through volunteering, advocacy and civic engagement initiatives. Student culture is uplifted and celebrated at every opportunity through music, poetry, free writing, and sharing meals together. We work to increase a participant’s connection to their cultural sense of self by providing culturally relevant programming, foods, and hiring staff which are similar in ethnicity and age to our student population. For example we ensure that students have access to museum exhibits, listen to music from theirs and other cultures as well as try foods from a different nation each week. When students speak bilingually it is encouraged and affirmed by our multilingual staff. Studies show that when students have a tangible sense of self that is aligned with their culture they tend to have a higher rate of self-acceptance and self-esteem. When students know the history of colonialism, slavery, and the long-lasting impacts of racial injustice then they are better able to form a stronger sense of self which helps them to conceptualize microaggressions and racial bias that they experience in academia making it more likely for them to persist through these challenges and obtain higher education degrees. We speak openly about relevant local, national, and international instances of racial injustice such as the story of Lake Lanier which we included in our conversation about how to start a career in Geographic Information Sciences. Our space places healing at the forefront of every activity, when students have a space to heal together working on their needs as individuals they have a greater capacity for compassion towards the needs of others. Racial solidarity is not easily obtained through subtle interventions so we are intentional in how we communicate this as a program goal to the students. We will achieve our community development goals by reaching more youth with the emotional support they need, continuing to break barriers to accessing therapeutic intervention and providing a safe space for discussing issues they and the community are facing.

Our staff and board are mostly of youth who have participated in our programming. Current participants can even join the Community Advisory Board of the organization, attend board meetings, join or form committees, and offer feedback quarterly through the advisory board. Students are surveyed every other week and have an open dialogue with the staff about program plans. We struggled to secure operational funding prior to the pandemic so going into the pandemic we were already facing a deficit, however we did receive funding from the SBA to pay staff. We also receive funding from Raksha for youth outreach to the South Asian community specifically. This grant will help to ensure we have the materials to support our growing network of students across different schools and counties who have been joining our workshops virtually but would like to offer them in person workshop work opportunities requiring transportation access and more yoga mats for example.

Help Girls Like Belem Achieve Their Dreams

Barriers like language and race shouldn’t limit dreams. With your support girls rise higher!

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