When you first walk into the church annex that serves as the home for the Blossom Program for Girls, you are surrounded by walls of colorful, handmade posters covered by images of flowers in full bloom. “I’m a beautiful work of art,” reads one. “Blooming for Success,” reads another. “All Girls Deserve to Blossom,” declares a third. From the upstairs mezzanine, surrounded by stained glass, comes the sound of laughter as young girls and program staff gather to chat.

Understanding Born of Experience

This girls-only haven of support and stability, housed within the First African Methodist Zion Church in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, was created by Isis Sapp-Grant, a former teen gang member. While she was still in high school, her boyfriend died in a gang-related incident. That’s when Sapp-Grant became determined to break out of the violence and poverty she’d been born into - not only for herself, but so she could help other girls, in her words, “find hope and promise amid the surrounding cloud of negative influences.”

With the guidance of two dedicated teachers and a supportive policeman, Sapp-Grant graduated from high school. She went on to finish college and earn her master’s degree in social work at New York University.

Five years ago, the 34-year-old founded the Blossom Program in the heart of the neighborhood where she’d grown up.

“It had always been frustrating to me that there wasn’t a system in place here where girls could get access to services before they veered off too far and became fully delinquent,” says Sapp-Grant. “I know how they feel because I’ve been there. They’re thinking ‘Nobody cares so I’ll just do what I have to do to survive.’”

Hard Ground for Growing Up

According to the Miracle Makers, Inc., a non-profit group that offers social services and health care throughout Brooklyn and Queens, 72 percent of the children in Bedford Stuyvesant are born into poverty. That compares to a national child poverty rate of 17.6 percent. Sapp-Grant estimates that 85 percent of her girls are victims of sexual and physical abuse.

The Blossom Program reaches out to girls between the ages of 13 and 21, accepting all comers except for those with a pattern of felonious activity or serious mental illnesses.

Sapp-Grant says that disadvantaged girls are drawn to gangs, prostitution—even lock-up facilities—because they think these situations will offer them the only refuge available in their environment. “The sad reality is, they're right. The police don’t protect many kids in inner city schools around here as well as they should. It’s just not a priority. And the girls are continually bombarded by gang members and pimps trying to recruit them. We’re the positive alternative. Each girl knows we’re here to take care of them unconditionally until they’re ready to walk on their own,” says Sapp-Grant.

Offering What They Need

Sapp-Grant, a striking-looking woman who favors African-print head scarves, is protective of her girls’ privacy as well, strictly limiting this reporter’s access for interviews.

It’s understandable—many of the girls have stories that are painful to hear, and that they themselves may not wish to share. For instance, Sapp-Grant spoke about a recent phone call from a 13-year-old girl who had run away from home. “Both of her parents are on drugs and her mother was beating her because the girl told her she was sexually active. She said she had nowhere else to go. We were able to place her with her grandmother and enroll her in sex education workshops here,” says Sapp-Grant.

On-site programs on sex and sexuality help these young teenage women learn how to appreciate and understand their bodies, make healthy decisions about sex, how to deal with unwanted sexual advances and how to engage in safe sex to prevent unwanted pregnancies and diseases.

“Girls bring their real-life situations into these sessions. The goals are to help them learn how to think, make good decisions and work on alternative solutions before there’s an altercation or a negative result,” explains Tanya Odums, program director for Blossoms.

“One 14-year-old kept getting approached by a pimp every day in front of her school. This was someone she thought was ‘nice, a friend.’ We acted out a scene having to do with sexual messages men send her way and how it makes her feel,” says Odums. “Then we discussed issues related to self-esteem and how she could assert herself in this situation while maintaining her self respect. We also reported the pimp to the police. Everything we do sends home the same messages: 'You have a right to a better life.' 'All girls deserve to blossom.' We’re in the business of selling hope.”

Other Blossom workshops help girls build social skills and self respect, while teaching them to resolve conflicts without using violence, manage their own anger, set goals, and follow through on plans.

Different Paths to the Door

A small staff of five women handles the complex needs of about 50 girls at any given time. There’s no formal referral service: Sapp-Grant takes girls in however they happen to come through the door: One may be recommended by a guidance counselor, another through a social services agency. Others, like the runaway, make contact on their own.

“One young mother I’ve known my whole life called in crisis mode: her teenage daughter was totally out of control, breaking everything in the house, being verbally abusive. We arranged for both mother and daughter to attend family counseling once a week. The girl was also cutting herself so we set her up with psychiatric care. So the strategy to help each girl is individual,” says Sapp-Grant.

All of the programs and counseling services are provided gratis by volunteers. Last year’s operating budget was $285,000—contributed mostly by a handful of organizations and corporations including the Robin Hood Foundation, the New York Women’s Foundation and Theodore Luce Charitable Trust. Sapp-Grant knows she needs to make fundraising more of a priority but her girls always seem to come first. On the day she was interviewed for this article she had to leave to attend a funeral; one of her girls had lost a 17-year-old sister to cancer.

Seeing the Future, in Color

The symbolism of a teenage girl blossoming like a flower is very personal to Sapp-Grant. “I remember thinking at that age, ‘pastels are not for me.’ They were so bright and so vivid and that was just not a reality in my life. Most girls who grow up here feel that same gloom and darkness. What’s worse is they feel undeserving of brightness and promise—to feel like a lady, to feel pretty, to be happy. All they want to hear is that they’re worth more than what they’ve been dealt so far. My goal is to find a way to convince these girls that with the right support they are capable of creating a better life for themselves.”

Resources:

The Blossom Program Web site is currently under construction. To learn more or contribute, contact the program at 54 MacDonough St., Brooklyn, NY 11216; or call Isis Sapp-Grant, 718-857-2447, extension 11.