Girls of Character was founded in 2009 by Norma Venable as a result of her vision from God. At that time, the group consisted of 4 girls including her 6-year-old daughter. They met in the basement of Norma’s home. As the group began to grow, there came a need for a location for the group to meet each month. Norma presented the idea of Girls of Character to her pastor, who opened the doors for the group to meet in the church fellowship hall. The group was named “Girls of Character” by the girls who were in the group at that time. Girls of Character has worked with girls ages 4-16 to teach and educate them the importance of having a foundation which would enable them to make healthy choices in their lives. Girls of Character has provided tools to assist girls in developing their self-confidence, self-esteem, and self-assurance. We have changed our focused and our services have expanded to working with girls and boys ages 4-16 to address the exposure to violence and detrimental mental and physical health. Our services provided will address trauma recovery and other mental health issues, specifically to mediate the high correlation between family adversity, trauma and violence, and subsequent involvement in gun related activity. Children will be screened and assessed; evidence-based approaches to psychoeducation including psychological first aid; resource navigation/service linkage; and behavioral health therapy will be available to participants. Girls and Boys of Character is non-for-profit organization 501©3. We have fundraisers throughout the year to assist with the overhead and operation of the organization. We welcome sponsors and all donations. Please include your email in the 'contact us' section to receive our blogs via email.