Meet LaTasha Sheats of Sheats Social Services

Today we’d like to introduce you to LaTasha Sheats

Hi LaTasha, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
In 2005, my mom reached out to me to come to our family church to speak with a group on teenage girls in her Youth Department. I remember going to our local health clinic to grab information on safe sex, domestic violence and sexual assault. Thinking of all things I had experienced as a teen and could discuss with them. Who knew this Wednesday night would change my life forever? Every Wednesday thereafter, I would pack up my 2 kids and head on over to church to have candid conversations with the girls and from there my mentor programs Strong, Beautiful, & Godly Girls (SBG2) was formed.

SBG2 is a mentor program for teenage girls in 6th-12th grade specializing in group mentoring. Our mission is to teach teenage girls to become virtuous women one conversation at a time. In addition to mentoring, we teach life skills and work readiness. In 2012, we left the church and began a partnership with Athens Leisure Services to host our group meetings inside the community. This move offered us more opportunities to grow.

In 2014, as I was pursuing a degree in Social Work, i was approached by the Bethel Home Stakeholders to coordinate a Literacy Program for the residents on Bethel Homes, a low income, predominantly black and underserved neighborhood. We launched the Bethel Reading for Success Program later that year. For this program we partnered with local organizations who had a literary focus, churches, and local restaurants. Occasionally we had various local authors and athletes join us to speak to participants about their lives and the importance of reading. There was also a book club for parents. We had over 50 kids to participate weekly.

Unfortunately life to a dark an abrupt shift when I became unemployed in 2016. I found myself in a dark place and unable to continue programming successfully. So i took a break to focus on myself and my family. During this time I studied the book of Proverbs, meditated, and studied more. I found myself wanting to assist the entire family and not just the youth. I came up with the idea to start a nonprofit organization. Due to financial restraints, I returned to the workforce as a Paraprofessional, Family Engagement Specialist, and After School Worker with the School District just to make ends meet. During this time, I found myself starting a 5th grade girls group, called Strong, Beautiful, & Intelligent Girls. This program expanded to both Boys and Girls Clubs in the Athens area. This program operated successfully until the Pandemic hit.

By 2020, I’m back in the Social Work field and seeing all of the barrier and challenges there were for families to get the help that was needed. So i jumped back into hustle mode, started a summer camp for teenage girls, and by the next year, my nonprofit was founded, Sheats Social Services.

Sheats Social Services is now an operating black owned nonprofit organization, whose mission is to encourage self sufficiency by providing families with the necessary resources and skills needed to break educational, social, and economic barriers. We accomplish our mission by using our youth development programs as a segway to holistic approach to of assisting the entire family.

At SSS we have the SBG2 Mentor Organization, the Reading Rainbow Collective Literacy Program, Project 313, a financial assistance program, and we just recently started a Food Programs, providing food and hot meals for our participants.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Although it has not been a smooth ride, it has been a great journey of learning and building relationships. Funding and parent participation has been the hardest struggles along the way.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
SBG2 has been a huge success as our statistics show that we have a 0% teenage pregnancy rate; 98% graduation rate; all alumni members are employed, in the military, &/or in post secondary education.

RRC students are reading at a higher level than when the program started.

What sets us apart is that we meet our families where they are and pride ourselves on building trusting relationships, while creating a safe place for families to discuss their circumstances openly and honestly so we can help provide the help they need to become more self sufficient.

I’m most proud of SBG2 and how it has transformed the lives of many teenage girls and out mentors, which changed the narrative of how black women are perceived in our community. The lessons were impactful and the way they carry themselves now as women makes me proud.

Please go to our website to see how you can support any of our programs/service and make a donation. We also like to introduce our families to new things so if there’s ever anything going on in your areas with emphasis on self esteem, education, work readiness, or simply an interactive activity please let us know.

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
No, I didn’t have a mentor along the way. I used my personal experiences and how I was raised to assist me along the way. My grandmother and her aunts always helped people and worked in the service industry. My mom was employed by Department of family and children service, so I picked up a lot of skills from her as I spent a lot of time there after school and even worked there one Summer. I also had a great aunt who was the 1st black woman to run for political office in Athens, GA.

I guess you could say, I’m “self made” in reference to the nonprofit industry and my family is my role models.

Pricing:

• SBG2 Sponsorship $150 (Annual Retreat)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sheatssocialservices.org
• Instagram: _sheatssocialservices
• Facebook: Sheats Social Services