Because I wanted something meaningful to do with my time.
Because I like sewing and crafts.
Because I love working with girls.
Because it was the perfect opportunity for life-on-life ministry.
Because I loved the idea of giving girls something better to look forward to in life.
What started as a small group of individuals with a heartfelt desire to serve girls from tough backgrounds has turned into a structured after-school mentorship program powered by passionate women with many different reasons for showing up.
For the past six years girls (approximately) between the ages of 11 and 17 years old have gathered after school at the Adorned In Grace Design Studio under the guidance of volunteer mentors who want to help empower vulnerable youth to realize their worth. Girls have learned how to sew, made arts and crafts, received help with homework, and simply spent time with loving adult mentors and other girls in a safe environment.
The high volume of human trafficking in Portland, OR particularly endangers at-risk youth, so the Design Studio was founded to help combat the issue from a preventative standpoint. Girls who have a history of abuse or neglect, have unstable home lives due to domestic violence, homelessness, running away, or being in the foster care system are all considered high risk. Children of women working in the sex industry, immigrants/refugees, and who live below the poverty line are also placed in the high-risk category. The Design Studio’s goal is not only to keep targeted girls away from risky environments, but also give them abundant opportunities to learn, grow, succeed in life, and embrace their own remarkable worth.
There have been fantastic highlights along the way. In 2017 three Design Studio participants were accepted into college; all will be first-generation college students. In 2015 six girls decided to demonstrate their new relationship with Jesus through baptism. These are the kinds of special moments the team wildly celebrates, and it is the potential for girls in other cities to experience these moments that has fueled the desire for expansion. If young women in Southeast Portland can benefit from the life- changing love of Jesus and caring mentors, why not girls anywhere?
This is the question that drives them–why not girls anywhere, and why not churches anywhere? All Compassion Connect’s models (programs) are built around the pillar of churches working together to serve the community. They believe that neighborhoods suffer when churches compete and passionate people don’t have an outlet to serve, so they create tools that invite people to put their faith in action and unite churches to address their neighborhood’s needs. The Design Studio is one of those tools. At the current Design Studio, women from an array of local churches come together for the common purpose of serving at-risk youth with the hope that consistent and authentic love and care will prevent them from becoming victims of sex trafficking. The team believes that churches anywhere could collaborate to start a Design Studio in their own community, and they want to help.
Within the plans for growth, the team is also working on launching a computer lab within the Studio where girls can participate in a special youth entrepreneurship workshop, get help with their homework, learn how to use modern technologies, and explore future career opportunities such as web development, graphic design and more. “It would be so great to offer these girls something so valuable such as learning how to code or do graphic design – wouldn’t that be awesome?!,” said Rachel Murfitt, Design Studio Coordinator. And it is evident that each individual volunteer at the studio shares the same excitement for growth.
Even basic technological knowledge such as Microsoft Office, typing, and internet search skills can be the gateway to a future with many open doors; however, not everyone has access to modern-day technology or instruction on how to navigate it, so the Design Studio hopes to be a place to help bridge that gap and open those doors for young women.
In addition to a computer lab, volunteers and mentors would also like to provide more education to the girls on relevant and topics such as drugs, alcohol, sex, and trafficking. They hope this will not only give community members the opportunity to share on these topics but also offer the girls a platform to have difficult discussions that they may not have anywhere else. Being that “safe space” for the girls has been and always will be a priority for the Design Studio – and one that they’re very proud of.
Growing and learning from the selfless individuals who’ve committed to being mentors, the girls who come to the Design Studio often leave with so much more than they came in with. Some of the biggest changes the mentors see in the girls are increased self-confidence and having more hope for a better life. They show more positivity day in and day out, with their outer toughness softening because of the trust they’ve learned to have and the love they’ve learned to receive. They become more open to new things, more secure in making better choices and see all of these doors open for their future that they might not have seen before.
Seeing the girls realize their worth and acknowledging that their lives hold so much opportunity is what the Design Studio is all about. Knowing that a girl can come in a little lost in the world, unsure of what awaits her or unaware of how great her life can be and see her leave a strong, positive young lady who is confident enough to make the decision to live an amazing life makes every minute at the Studio worth it.
But it’s not just the girls whose lives are impacted–mentors often find their lives changing for the better as well. Many have found an increased compassion and understanding for at-risk youth and having grace for people of all backgrounds who have so many obstacles in their way. Their eyes have been opened to the needs and hurts of this younger generation and instilled a greater love and empathy for those who need it most. Some have even discovered what it means to love deeper and more sacrificially, even when it is inconvenient. According to Carol John, a Design Studio mentor of several years, “I think that’s what’s beautiful of how my faith is now. I see faces: the faces I serve and the faces that serve me. Part of what happens with Design Studio and mentoring is that these are not momentary interactions, these are relationships. When the girls are going through a crisis you are going through it too. It can take a toll on your faith if you don’t go to God with it. There’s been a lot of wrestling, but wrestling that has grown my faith.”
So many selfless, kind-hearted people have helped make the Design Studio the wonderful place it is today and many more will continue to contribute, sometimes hardly realizing the value they bring to these young girls’ lives. Andrea, a former Design Studio attendee, recently told the team in an interview that “Whether it be the harder way, the more inconvenient way, or the impossible, these women and men I have met over the last seven years have helped drastically change my life. Whether it be faith, addiction or just habits. They’ve done this without even knowing it.”
The brilliance of the Design Studio is that it can happen anywhere–any town, any state, any country–and that is part of the vision behind expansion. What could it look like in cities across the country to provide a safe space for young women to grow and flourish by the grace of God, a space where they are free to both love themselves and be loved, despite the obstacles they face in life?
Want to know how you can help? Below are some of the ways you can make a difference:
- Donate healthy snacks / drinks for the girls to enjoy in the Design Studio kitchen after school
- Donate supplies for the girls to use during craft / homework time
- Volunteer to give girls rides to and from the Design Studio
- Be a Guest Speaker on a specialty topic (nutrition, fitness, business, college-prep, art, etc.)
- Interested in helping bring a Design Studio to your neighborhood? We want to help! Get in touch with us to learn how.
- Contact us at adornedingrace@gmail.com to learn more about any of these ways to get involved!
