Impact Austin grant allows clubGEN to expand, serve more middle school girls

Impact Austin grant allows clubGEN to expand, serve more middle school girls

By Kelsey Wilkinson Saturday, 20 June 2009

Starting this fall, girls at Chisholm Trail Middle School and CD Fulkes Middle School will receive support from clubGEN, an after-school program in which high school girls lead middle school girls through curriculum aimed to prevent high-risk behaviors. The expansion of clubGen was made possible when the organization received a $102,000 grant from Impact Austin.

Impact Austin, a local philanthropic group of women, awarded the grant in June.

The grant is one of five released by the organization in 2009, which are aimed to benefit local area projects that support women’s progress and influence positive change.

“We wanted to be able to grow our program, but we didn’t have the resources,” said Lora Alaniz, program manager for GENaustin, the girls empowerment network that created clubGEN. “We are able to operate at 100 percent now that we have the grant.”

The program will discuss common issues with teenagers including body image, bullying, media literacy, relationships and substance abuse and is designed to prevent behaviors that can lead to eating disorders, teen pregnancy and juvenile delinquency.