The “Empowering Young Women” project is a multi-year collaborative effort between the Housatonic Youth Service Bureau and Woman’s Support Services.  The purpose of this project is to provide a support/enrichment group for adolescent girls that will nurture their self-esteem and core competencies.  

This group meets over the course of the semester at the Housatonic Valley Regional High School. Meeting during an activity block, the group is open to sophomore, junior and senior students.  It is structured as a full semester program and is offered over the course of the fall and spring semesters.  Students can choose to participate in either the fall semester, spring semester, or both.  

The group is co-facilitated between HYSB and Woman’s Support Services.  At times, the group has invited guest speakers from the community to come and present on a selected topic.  Throughout the course of the semester, a range of content is covered.  Participants are also offered the chance to suggest topics for discussion.  Past topics have included: dating violence, healthy relationships, body image, smoking/substance use/abuse education, and healthy decision making.  At the end of the school year, usually in the month of June, students are offered an option to take a group trip.  This year, the group chose to visit the Museum of Natural History in Manhattan.