Girls Inc. of Albany rises from the ashes
The group was on the verge of financial collapse last year, but has survived.
Albany Girls Inc. members Kayana Barber, left, Kierra Barber, Interim Executive Director Wilena McCail, Destiny Gaines, Aiyla Clark and Haley Hatmaker, are shown at the Club Center on Park Lane. (Staff Photo: Terry Lewis)
By Terry Lewis
ALBANY — In late May of last year, Girls Inc. of Albany was teetering on the brink of collapse. On-site summer programs were cut, staff reduced and the group’s board of directors shriveled from 15 to just five members.
Girls Inc. immediately restructured and managed to cobble together a new board of 15 members, who hired Wilena McClain as interim executive director. The group relaunched fundraising efforts and began an aggressive outreach program, signing partnerships with Mt. Zion Baptist Church, Greater Second Mt. Olive Baptist Church and the Boys and Girls Club of Albany. The partnerships allowed the group to fully staff at five members.
And it all worked.
“Just a year ago, we partnered with local churches to create alliances to deliver our programming in a outreach format,” Girls Inc. Board of Trustees Chairman Joe Dent said. “Although we continue to work with those partners and the school system to provide outreach programming, due to the hard work of our staff and fundraising efforts, we are once again having on-site summer camp.
“In the fall, we will continue with on-site programming, as well as providing outreach programming to our partner organizations.”
The financial turnaround was spurred by several factors, but mainly because supporters saw Girls Inc. was too important to the community to fail.
“Our financial situation has continuously improved over the last year due to the current board and management stream-lining processes, re-organizing programming, and strategically managing a limited budget,” Dent said.”We have re-organized our board of trustees and have grown to group of 15. The board is continuing to find avenues of fundraising. As with any organization, we need donors to help us to continue our programming, which empowers girls ages 6 to 18, teaching them to be strong, smart and bold.
“A small donation will help defray the overall cost of one girl to attend our after-school and summer programs. Girls Inc. remains a special place for girls where they receive vital tool which has been statistically proven locally and nationally to help young girls avoid a teenage pregnancy, graduate high school and go on to college.”
McClain said she was honored to play a role in the process of helping resurrect the organization from the ashes.
“I am grateful for this opportunity to be a part of a major transformation. Hard work, dedication, and support has enabled us to become more effective and remain that beacon of light, that Girls Inc. has always been in our community,” McClain said. “It is such a blessing to continue to provide a special place for girls through life-changing experiences and solutions to prepare them for success. I am truly excited about the stronger, smarter, bolder future of Girls Inc. of Albany.”
McClain added Girls Inc. of Albany has a 100 percent high school graduation rate, with many members going on to post-secondary educational institutions.
Since the local Girls Inc.’s founding in 1974, McClain said, the group has touched the lives of more that 15,000 young girls in the community.
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