Our Program

Since May 2016 partnerships with the YMCA, Monique Faye from R.I.S.E., the Massillon

Museum and the Women’s Impact Organization has formed. Our program runs on a bi-weekly

basis at the YMCA, we were able to donate homecoming dresses, and support the girls in the

R.I.S.E. program. As well as, participate in a free photography training, in which our girls

pictures were displayed in the Dr. Shirla R. Mcclain Gallery located in Akron, OH.

Fundraiser:

BeYoutiful Weirdo’s fundraising efforts have been in the form of car washes, holiday raffle

giveaways, and community donations. Fundraising is a group activity, and altogether we’ve

raised $2,125. From a private donor we’ve received $1,500 to support our program activities.

Special events:

BeYoutiful Weirdo girls look forward to our annual special events. In one year time our

attendance at the special events have doubled.

Every March we host the Pretty Princess Tea Party

June 9 th – “I AM’ the power of words empowerment event

July 14 th – Fashion Show

Since July 2016 our community outreach has included participation in the Red White and Blue

Community event hosted by Corey Redvine in Massillon, OH. We donated prizes and a bouncy

house to this event. BeYoutiful Weirdo’s staff, volunteers and participants attended a Black

Lives Matter Rally, and the "Calling All Young Women" empowerment event at Mount Calvary

Baptist Church in Massillon, OH. BeYoutiful Weirdo’s founder, Ke’Aunte Harris was one of the

guest speaker along with a BeYoutiful Weirdo program participant. We’ve also hosted a craft

table at the Downtown Massillon Fun Fest, and in November 2016 attended the Links Luncheon,

where we were able to introduce our mentoring program and garner the interest of some

powerful women who supports BeYoutiful Weirdo’s expansion. Our outreach effort helps with

recruitment and increases program visibility.

Group Session and mentoring

Since May 28, 2016 we’ve been hosting our group sessions at the YMCA on a bi-weekly basis.

Our sessions have been focused on girl talk, life skills, education planning, and self-

awareness/self-esteem building. BeYoutiful Weirdo participants have expressed, on several

occasions, they feel comfortable with sharing and receiving feedback during our sessions.

We’ve had discussions around the girls’ dream job and created a layout of what it would take to

achieve that goal. A discussion and activity that was taken from the book 7 Steps to Discover

Your Inner greatness, by Cyrus Harper.

Our participants receive mentoring in the form of getting assistance with completing college

applications, dress shopping, and creating vision boards. We also encourage our girls to be

physically active by implementing workout activities.

BeYoutiful Weirdo girls participates in ongoing workshops which promotes emotional

development and mentoring. Below are a list of those workshops:

 Self-Image workshop with Barbra Jean

 Crafting workshop with Kita featuring motivational speaker Joy Ellis

 Self-Love and Goal Seeking workshop

In 2018 we held a spa day with the Mayors Assistant, Ms. Linda Benson, and started our anti-

bullying stories. At the beginning of the school year, our girls received “Happy Jars” to keep them motivated.