Day Two

Tarona and I started off our morning at the monthly volunteers' meeting with Dress for Success in Atlanta, GA and ended our day at the kick-off meeting for B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. Beginnings, a part of I Am B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. in Alpharetta, GA.

Prior to departure, the grand tour of The Decatur Inn.
While I have pages and pages of notes and lots and lots of pics and video footage, I'm too exhausted to figure out how to load anything from my new digital video camera onto my Mac, so I'll finish this post tomorrow from the road. In the meantime, I will say that if today was any indication as to how the rest of this trip is going to turn out, we are truly in for a phenomenal experience.

Oh, and gas went up to $3.55/gallon when we got to Georgia.

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Addendum:

At Dress for Success, Janet Thornton, the Volunteer Professional Women's Group Director welcomed us with a big hug before the meeting began. We soon found out that hugs are given out often and in large quantities at this organization whose mission is "to promote the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and in life."

Janet Thornton discusses her experiences at DFS and working with volunteers.
After networking with some of the volunteers (over the yummiest lemon cake and fresh fruit), Tarona and I listened to Janet explain the history, partnerships, and success of her Professional Women's Group program. Dress for Success' motto "Suits to Self-Sufficiency" speaks volumes to its volunteers' long-term commitment to helping women develop confidence and self worth in both their professional and personal worlds--as Janet said, "We're not just a closet." The Professional Women's Group provides support, encouragement, resources, and a variety of other services to help empower women. However, they are often in need of clothing donations, especially polo shirts and khakis for those women interviewing at non-corporate companies. We strongly urge anyone reading this to please contribute what you can to the following address:

Dress for Success Atlanta
220 Spring Street NW, Suite 102
Atlanta, GA 30303
404.589.1177 p
404.589.1187 f

If you're not in the Atlanta region, Dress for Success has offices nation- and worldwide.

Each month, Janet books guest speakers to present at the volunteers' meetings and this month, Tarona and I timed our visit perfectly as the guest speaker was entrepreneur, inventor, and all-around true Renaissance woman Cheryl Scales. Cheryl's topic this evening was how to market oneself, where we learned something as simple as buying a website domain name can garner each of us marketability regardless of whether we have our own business or not.

Rhonda Willis and Joslyn A. Moore describe their experiences as volunteers.
We were also pleased to find out that Rochelle Ward, PWG's Program Coordinator, is starting a book club in which she plans to discuss a variety of fiction and non-fiction titles with members who sign up for the meetings every other month. (Note to my
former publishing pals: you'll be hearing from me soon to ask for donations again.)

Tarona poses here with Frances Browning, a volunteer for Dress for Success' Professional Women's Group and Every Woman Works, an organization for women in transition from the penal system which helps them develop work skills and strengthen their self-confidence.
At B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. Beginnings, Tina Woodard addressed moms of girls 5 - 10 years old about her prevention program which focuses on increasing self esteem and leadership skills. A subsidiary of her I Am B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. program for teens, B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. Beginnings understands that girls are being affected at a younger and younger age as the years progress and provides a support system to ensure the achievement of physical, mental, social, emotional, spiritual, and economic success of these "little" girls overtakes--or, at least undoes--any image issues they might have based on current media standards or the ignorant jabbings from their peers.

Tina Woodard
The program is a fantastic combination of mentoring, community service, workshops, and activities which encourage leadership in girls, but also educates mothers on how they can support their daughters' empowerment. While the cost for parents to enroll their daughters in Camp B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L. is nominal, Tina estimates it costs the organization approximately $700 per girl, which is why she relies heavily on the financial support of donors. If you would like to contribute any amount to this wonderful program, please contact Tina at the following address:

I AM, INC.
4850 Golden Parkway, Suite B-230
Buford, Georgia 30518
404.545.9051 p (Georgia office)
843.616.4415 p (South Carolina office)
770.831.0813 f

Cameca Fenderson explains her sickle cell anemia foundation.