Alternatives for Girls
See our GiftsOverview
Alternatives For Girls (AFG) is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization located in southwest Detroit, Michigan, serving homeless and high-risk girls and young women. Since 1987, AFG has provided critical services to program participants, including safe shelter, educational support, vocational guidance, mentoring and counseling. The goal is to empower girls and young women to make positive choices. AFG helps them repair their lives, rescue their dreams and restore their faith in the future.
Mission
Alternatives For Girls helps homeless and high-risk girls and young women avoid violence, teen pregnancy and exploitation, and helps them to explore and access the support, resources and opportunities necessary to be safe, to grow strong and to make positive choices in their lives.
History
Alternatives For Girls (AFG) emerged in the mid-1980s when a group of southwest Detroit residents, clergy and business people began to share concerns about the alarming increase in drug use, homelessness, prostitution and street activity by girls and young women. The organization originated as a small, volunteer-run program, operating a five-bed emergency shelter in a neighborhood church. Twenty years later, AFG has evolved into a multi-service agency with nearly 50 employees. It is housed in a two-story, brick building constructed in 2002 following the successful completion of a $4.5-million capital campaign.
Program
AFG Prevention
Finding self-esteem, improving a grade-point average, rejecting drugs and alcohol, choosing abstinence, connecting with a mentor, discovering untapped talents — these are some of the experiences girls have when they take part in AFG Prevention programming. These experiences can happen in a summer (through the Rise-N-Shine program), during the course of a school year (through after-school workshops, study groups and girls’ clubs) or across the span of several years as girls mature from f5 to 18 years of age, building their characters on a foundation of positive choices.
AFG Shelter
New ideas, new paths, new people emerge from the AFG Shelter. It is a place where young women (16-21) who live in the present — without goals for, or a belief in, the future — discover abilities and callings that lead them toward meaningful careers and otherwise productive lives. It all begins with finishing diplomas and advancing toward degrees, developing a strong work ethic, becoming good mothers, acquiring financial literacy, learning cooperation and respect for others, and the growth of self-esteem. Participants redefine themselves and reshape their futures.
AFG Outreach
AFG Outreach serves as a lifeline to many young women seeking to remove themselves from situations and activities that threaten their physical and mental well-being, their futures, their lives. Staff and volunteers encounter young women on the streets, in all seasons, during daylight and after dark, providing harm-reduction kits, a ride to AFG and other safe places — links to life-saving and support services.
Impact
Program Statistics
In FY 2006/2007, Alternatives For Girls:
•Provided 6,995 nights of care to homeless young women and their children
•Served 134 homeless young women through the Shelter program
•Secured permanent housing for 31 residents
•Engaged 171 school-aged girls in ongoing after-school academic and cultural enrichment programming
•Connected 72 mentors with AFG participants
•Provided information and resources to 7,489 youth and women on the streets and in the community
•Distributed 34,570 harm reduction kits
Goals
•Focus on the involvement of parent with elementary school girls to strengthen the families and uphold the AFG success rate
•Attempt to increase funding in order to increase the number of staff service coordinators
•Recruit a large number of children with incarcerated parents/caregivers for our mentoring program
•Run the shelter at full capacity, with all 31 beds for young women and 14 beds for their children full
•Increase opportunities for donors to connect with participants and programs
CEO
Amy Good received a Master’s of Social Work degree from the University of Michigan and worked at the Barat House in Detroit. She got married and had two children – now teens. And, she took the lead role as CEO of AFG. Since then Amy has brought a laser-focus to the job of nurturing AFG. She has raised funds, hired staff, created programming and above all, been tireless in expanding the services that AFG offers the community. Her work has not gone unnoticed. We are extremely proud of the awards and recognitions that Amy has received.
They include:
•The Leadership Challenge awarded, presented by Leadership Detroit
•Mother’s Day Peace Award, presented by Women’s Action for New Directions
•The Oprah Winfrey’s “Use Your Life" award
•United Way “Executive Director of the Year" in 2005
But I am sure if you asked her, she would say that beyond the love of her family, the greatest award Amy has ever received has been the knowledge that AFG has changed the lives and created positive outcomes for hundreds of women in SE Michigan.
Board
CHAIR
Agnes Hagerty, Trinity Health
VICE CHAIR
Princella Graham, St. John Health
TREASURER
Marcella Holmes
SECRETARY
Joya Harris-Sherron, Carlson Marketing Group
CHAIR EMERITUS
Catharine LaMont, LaMont Title
Shirley Stancato, New Detroit Inc.
Susan J. Berman, SJ Berman
Jaz’Mine (Jay) Browner
Randye Bullock, Bulls-Eye Consulting
Linda Butler
Joy Calloway, St. Joseph Mercy - Oakland
Aimee Cox, University of Michigan
Joseph Dillon, Giarmarco, Mullins, & Horton, PC
Nida Donar, Wayne State University
Linda Jimenez, Wayne State University
Polly Ledyard, Community Volunteer
Chrystal Roberts, Health Alliance Plan
Rosemary Sarri, University of Michigan
Debra Walker, Daimler Chrysler (retired) / owner Ladels Books
Keila Walton, UAW-GM Center for Human Resources
Countries
United States
States
Michigan
Contact
903 W GRAND BLVD
DETROIT, MI 48208-2365
Phone: (313) 361-4000
www.alternativesforgirls.org
EIN: 38-2766412
Basic Needs
Community
Regular price $5000 $50.00
Your gift of $50 will help us to hold our Voter Registration Drive at AFG on August 8th from 11am - 3pm. We are not promoting one party or another; we are just educating our community on the importance of voting and providing them the opportunity to register that day. We are working hard to publicize this event not only to our AFG participants but...
Regular price $2000 $20.00
Your $20 gift will allow us to purchase one pair of footwear for the girls and women in any of our programs. The option of purchasing shoes instead of relying on donations allows us to purchase the kind of shoes we know most of the women need here. We are always in need of bigger sized walking shoes. With this gift, we can buy a...
Regular price $1000 $10.00
Your $10 donation will provide 3 hygiene kits. Last year, through the Safe Choices program, we distributed 838 hygiene kits to the women on the streets. However, we depend on the items to be donated for the hygiene kits, and there were many nights where we ran out of hygiene kits to pass out. We also have a walk-in resource room with a shower. For...
Regular price $500 $5.00
Your $5 gift will allow us to buy at least one bottle of sunscreen for our Prevention participants in the Rise n’ Shine summer camp. Many of the programs participants are considered to be at-risk for negative behaviors such as dropping out of school, teen pregnancy, gang behavior, drugs or alcohol abuse, or becoming involved in abusive relationships. The focus of Rise n’ Shine is...
Regular price $1000 $10.00
Your $10 gift will provide an AFG Shelter resident an alarm clock to keep with her even when she leaves the shelter. An alarm clock is a simple yet often overlooked accessory that is essential to being successful. For the women who arrive at our shelter, an alarm clock is one of the tools we like to provide in helping them succeed in their lives....
Regular price $1000 $10.00
Your gift of $10 will allow us to purchase a baby item for one of the 14 children living in our shelter. The children range from newborn up to 5 years and we would buy an item that is necessary and suitable for that baby or child. Some examples of items would be baby blankets, pacifiers, clothing, diapers, baby hygiene items, toys, and books. We...
Regular price $1500 $15.00
Your gift of $15 will allow us to purchase one Tigers baseball ticket to see a game in August. We want to take 15 girls in our high school Prevention Program. We believe that a baseball game is a great American pastime that we want our girls to enjoy as well. Plus, it is an opportunity to bond with the other girls and find support...
Regular price $10000 $100.00
Your gift of $100 will help defray the high gas costs and ensure that we can continue providing our services to the women who need our assistance. Through the Peer Education Program, we use the vans to drive our Peer Educators (PEs) to areas that their peers hang out. Our PEs help their peers understand the risks of unsafe activities and help them make positive...
Regular price $3000 $30.00
This gift provides five healthy meals for participants in our after-school programming. An essential component of our programming is to provide a full meal since many of the Prevention participants might not receive an adequate meal at home. In the high school program, the teens cook the meals themselves, so they learn how to cook nutritious meals. Your gift will allow us to buy healthy...
Regular price $2500 $25.00
This gift will provide board games and/or DVDs for the young women who live at the AFG shelter. Game nights and movie nights conjure up images of friends gathering together, sharing in the laughter and camaraderie of being among loved ones. Help us create these same feelings for young homeless women who might not have experienced such gatherings. For a $25 gift, you allow us...