Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1281965
72 SEPTEMBER 2020 I N - D E P T H disorders and coping skills such as art, writing, and cooking in "Awareness in Mental Health." They're not just leaders in the classroom; the girls work on real-life solutions to real-life problems. "They go out into the community and they're the ones who are doing the outreach," says Crotty. They helped pass the plastic bag ban in Lynn, and they led the movement to raise Lynn's smoking and vaping age from 18 to 21. "Girls Inc. believed in me," says 18-year-old Syeeda Rahman. "I've always had big ideas, but I didn't always have a support system and a platform. Girls Inc. provided me with both." In 1942, Girls Inc. of Lynn began as the "Girls Club of Lynn," offering a space for girls to come after school and connect with each other, build character, and practice domestic skills like cooking and sewing. Though they're now an affiliate of the over-150-year-old national organization Girls Inc., and these days they also encourage building skills in the science, math, and technology fields, some of their foundational practices remain the same. "Sometimes the girls are mentoring and they're making cookies," says Crotty. "It's a way to create conversation and do an activity together and open up lines of communication." The nonprofit receives funding through partnerships with local corporations and foundations like National Grid, Eastern Bank, and the Boston Scientific Foundation, as well as from individual donors. Crotty estimates that around 80 percent of their generous individual donors live in the North Shore community. They also receive state funding for their childcare program, and grants from the Department of Public Health for their substance abuse and health and sexuality programming. When COVID-19 hit in mid-March, Girls Inc. sprang into action, providing their girls with resources like loaned computers and virtual programming. This new virtual format for education (and life in general) has PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF GIRLS INC. Deb Ansourlian (third from right) poses with Girls Inc. alumni.