Today we’d like to introduce you to Jhessica Wade.
Jhessica, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I started Project Adjusting Our Crowns at a time when I was depressed and needed saving. I needed healing and I need to find myself again. I had quit my job, had a bad break up, and found out a family member was terminally ill all within a months time. One day I decided to get out of the bed and to stop feeling sorry for myself, I reminded myself that I was a Queen and that my tilted crown needed some adjusting. That’s where I got the Adjusting Our Crowns part, in life we all go through changes and moments where our crowns tip as long as we keep adjusting and not letting it fall we’ll be ok.
I decided to go into my community with my mission to help young girls discover who they’re because if you don’t know yourself, you allow someone else to tell you who you are. I started at my old high school Pebblebrook in the Fall of 2016 I knew as a former student there that having guidance and a listening ear is very important. I wanted to make an impact. I gather some women that I admired to volunteer their time to see the mission through. Each Friday we would go to the school and have Queen sessions going over how to get prepared for life after high school and college readiness.
Once a month different influencers would come in and speak from Jovita Moore from WSBTV to Serayah from Empire. I wanted these young girls to experience things they wouldn’t have if it wasn’t for being in the program. Five months into starting the program I caught the attention of FOX5 and they attend one of our college tours to Clark Atlanta and placed the segment on the news. Since then the program has been growing and growing. We’re on our third year and have decided to branch out to even more schools in Cobb County.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
There has been highs and lows such as anything in life but I honestly believe when you’re in your purpose there are way more highs. People see my energy and know that I am really passionate about the youth so they’re typically very supportive. However, bumps still arise and I just have to readjust but still focus on the primary goal which is that these young girls grow into young leaders setting the tone for excellence.
Please tell us about Project Adjusting Our Crowns.
Project Adjusting Our Crowns Incorporated is a nonprofit 5013c organization on a mission to enhance the future of high school aged minority high school girls to be smart, vibrant, and their best selves. Our goal is to provide young women with the tools to handle life obstacles and solutions to the unique challenges high school girls face. P.A.C (project adjusting our crowns) experience consists of professional African American women who together empower girls to succeed. The program works with trained staff and volunteers to build lasting, mentoring relationships in female-only spaces that are physically and emotionally safe.
A place where girls find a sisterhood of support with a shared drive, mutual respect, and high expectations. We want to provide our girls with skills and knowledge to set goals, overcome life-challenges, and help improve academic performances. P.A.C develops research-based informal education programs that encourage girls to think outside the box and master physical, intellectual and emotional challenges. Major programs address math and science education, pregnancy and drug abuse prevention, media literacy, economic literacy, adolescent health, violence prevention, and sports participation.
If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
If I could start over, I would have had a specific number of teens we wanted to take on for mentorship. When starting we had 202 young ladies sign up and ended up over the course of the years with 65 with six mentors. That has been a lot for us to handle. So having a plan of how many young ladies to take on would have been a good way to start.
Pricing:
- For our custom baseball T-shirts it’s $25 per shirt. If you would like your own shirt or to support a young lady to get hers please visit our website to donate.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.projectadjustingourcrowns.org/
- Phone: 770-284-1523
- Email: projectadjustingourcrowns@gmail.com
- Instagram: projectadjustingourcrowns
- Facebook: Project Adjusting Our Crowns
Image Credit:
Adrian Thomas
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