Pace Center for Girls helps young women become successful in Hillsborough County
TAMPA, Fla. - The Pace Center for Girls has been impacting the lives of young women for more than 20 years.
The center helps steer the girls in the direction they need to be successful. A very focused group of young women are at the Pace Center for Girls in Hillsborough County to learn, because they've been given a second chance.
"Pace provides so many ways for us to succeed and for us to be recognized for who we are," said a student, Valencia Valentine. "Because every girl out here is different."
The Pace Center for Girls gives young women the tools they need to succeed.
Valentine has turned her life around because of Pace.
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"Before I came to Pace, I was in a position where I wasn't even sure that I was going to graduate. And now I'm at a place where I can graduate early. So that's very much a blessing for me," Valentine shared.
Valencia is one of hundreds of young women who have attended Pace. Its mission is to reach out to girls who are struggling, whether its drug abuse, failing grades or teen pregnancy.
Some students have been able to turn their lives around.
"We work from a relationship based model, so we get to know our girls, we understand what their needs are, we understand what their challenges are, and then we put together interventions to directly address those needs," Davia Lerebours, Executive Director Pace said.
And while many of the girls struggled in school before Pace, now they are flying high.
"We want to make sure that our girls have every opportunity, that they have the same access, the same opportunities as any other student in Hillsborough County," Lerebours explained.
Lerebours, said it's important the girls have a bright future.
Pace understands their students challenges and tried to help them.
"These are our future moms," said Lerebours. "It's important for us to provide the supports of interventions that they need so that they can be self-sufficient and successful."
Valencia plans to fulfill her dream of going to college.
"Hopefully I can get into the college I would like to, FAMU and majoring in business," she said.
Pace has served more than 2,000 girls, and they are having a Journey to Success luncheon on Oct. 26.
For more information about The Pace Center for Girls, click here.