Unlimited Resources has entered its second year of providing mentorship to young women, giving them a chance at a better future.
Founded by Adrienne Conley, the program is similar to a debutante program. Conley said she mentors local girls and teaches them skills and lessons they will be able to use as they come of age.
"The first year was awesome. The fact that we made it and survived and were able to do it during the pandemic was absolutely great," Conley said, but "it was kind of trying at times."
She said a lot of venues were closed due to the pandemic, so "the access to the girls was very limited due to the fact that there was a lot of students doing virtual school and hybrid schooling and all of that."
Conley said she considered the beginning as growing pains that helped make the program stronger, as each setback taught her how to improve the program.
Six girls participated last year and the program has 10 girls this year, she said, noting the program has expanded from just "the juniors and seniors and this year we've incorporated ninth through 12th."
Conley said she would like to see the program continue to grow, but she would not want more than 20 participants a year. "Twenty would be our cap because you can't provide a lot of one-on-one and the interactions and the strengthening and the building and the trust if the group gets too large," she said.
Video not playing? Click here https://www.youtube.com/embed/HGu3WLlfmrI
"Our focus and our intent is to be able to provide the information to the group as early as possible, and our tagline is 'Providing life skills to last a lifetime,'" she said.
While the program does end in an elegant ball, Conley said "most important is the mentorship."
The group meets, on average, once a month and the girls learn about things such as how to apply for colleges, financial literacy, drug prevention and mental health.
The closing ball will be held at First United Methodist Church on June 11. "We're so glad to be here and that the fact that they are allowing us to host this program because they believe in supporting the community's young ladies," Conley said.
Once the girls have graduated from the program, she said she doesn't just wish them the best and move on. "I speak to them regularly, so I make sure that I talk to them at least once a month. Do a touch base, so that is great," she said.
Participants who are still in school upon completion of the program "will come back next year and they'll learn more, but when they come back, they'll come back as leaders. They'll come back as ambassadors, and they'll work with the new girls," she said.
"I decided to participate in this program mostly because of Miss Adrienne in general because she was really convincing from the beginning and she was just telling me about all the resources and able to provide me with information for college and for being a young lady in general," Makayla Watson, a 10th-grade participant, said.
Watson noted her favorite moment of the program was the first meeting the girls had with an assistant principal from the Hot Springs School District, and "she was mostly talking about education, which is a big part of my life, and it was beautiful to see a woman that looks like me, a woman of color, that was able to complete all the things that she did, and about her talking to me one-on-one, telling me that I can complete these things and telling me that I have worth and determination, and for a woman to be of such poise and grace, I felt that was a beautiful thing that I got to experience."
Larissa Britain, a 10th-grader, said she wanted to join because of the educational opportunities of the program. "I'd learn how to be a leader, take charge of financial aid, prepare for college and do stuff along that line," she said.
"I truly do" think that joining the program has been beneficial, Britain said, "It's taught me a lot of stuff and I feel like if I wouldn't have joined I wouldn't have ever known about it."
She said they had a meeting a couple of weeks ago "where we learned about drug prevention and alcohol abuse and substance abuse and that was very beneficial."
Conley "has been a very good mentor," Britain said. "She's helped me whenever I needed things. She's helped me fill out a lot of stuff, and to be honest I don't know what I'd do without her."
The Sentinel-Record/Tanner Newton /caption: Makayla Watson, left, and Larissa Britain are participants in this year's Unlimited Resources program. HS Unlimited-2 042822.JPG attached