Lost Girlz, a program of Lost Boyz Inc., provides violence prevention and intervention support to girls using social emotional learning, mentoring, civic engagement and trauma-sensitive coaching methodologies. Specifically, Lost Girlz utilizes softball training and career exposure to teach girls ages four to 14 how to be successful on the diamond, in the classroom, in the boardroom, and in the community.
In many underserved communities, adolescent girls face difficult challenges, such as limited access to opportunity, gang violence, social discrimination, and isolation. The Lost Girlz program is working to transform girls’ lives in the Chicago South Shore neighborhood with a goal to reduce violent behavior and violent victimization. Through activities aimed at building character development and resilience, the program is uniquely positioned to impact risk factors correlated with negative outcomes for Black girls resulting from experiences of violence. To accomplish its goals, the program leverages team sports as a foundation and provides opportunities for girls to improve their academic performance, foster a sense of community, and engage in rewarding social recreation. The Lost Girlz program uses evidence-based models rooted in Sports-Based Youth Development, Positive Youth Development Theory, and Developmental Systems Theory, with an emphasis on sports inclusion.
The Girls Opportunity Alliance Fund will support Lost Girlz in expanding its programming into South Shore, Roseland, and North Lawndale in Chicago. The program will expose 60 adolescent girls ages 10 to 14 years to softball, civic engagement, cultural enrichment, social emotional learning, and service learning, while also providing tutoring under its 10-month MVP Girls Softball Program. Girls will attend study sessions with tutors three to four times per week, followed by structured practice that includes indoor skills training, physical conditioning, and instruction on softball rules and strategy. Lost Girlz is uniquely positioned to provide sports-based youth development to help girls in Chicago’s under-resourced neighborhoods develop confidence, resilience, and life skills.
For more information about the Lost Girlz program through Lost Boyz Inc., please visit the organization’s website.
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