I really love hearing the joy in people’s hearts when they have a place of their own to bring their kids.

悉尼·埃利的成功有多种形式, 非营利组织“团结起来,我们站得高”的创始人和执行董事. She sees it in the smiling face of a girl who felt like she had no reason to smile. 她在快乐、感恩的孩子身上看到了这一点,他们与人互动、信任他人. “我听到过这样的故事,‘我的导师在帮我写简历. 她才是真正帮我找到工作的人,’”她说.

Success is exposing girls to educational or career opportunities and then watching them pursue those opportunities. 成功是使导师能够通过他们的学员留下遗产.

“Overall, just seeing that everyone involved in TWST4Girls creates this generational impact and has this positive outcome by being involved in our program. That’s success.”

这是NAR提供的另一个可能的定义. In October, NAR named Ealy one of five judged winners of the 2021 NAR Good Neighbor Award. 她为TWST4Girls赢得了1万美元的资助. “我感到谦卑和兴奋……真的很自豪和感激,”她说.

Ealy also won the Texas REALTOR® Good Neighbor Award earlier this year at the 2021 Texas REALTORS® Winter Meeting.

Offering Tools for the Future

TWST4Girls offers a variety of free educational programming for youth ages 11 to 17. 它最近为其学者项目举行了毕业典礼, which provides girls with tools, training, 以及他们在高中毕业后获得成功和方向所需要的技能. “At the end of the program, the young ladies receive a $2,从TWST4Girls获得的000或更多的资助来追求这个目标. 这对那些女孩来说在经济上是一个很大的解脱,”埃利指出.

The nonprofit offers exposure to possible careers and higher education opportunities for girls who don’t know what they’d like to do, and guidance for those who do. TWST4Girls最近举办了一场活动,让女孩们了解航空事业. “We had a lot of amazing volunteer pilots who brought their four-seater airplanes to teach the girls and took the girls up in flight. All of the girls loved it.”

其他活动包括在美国露营, an event about leadership, outdoor survival skills, and teamwork. 夜间远足、皮划艇和钓鱼也被提上日程. TWST4Girls also offers tutoring, feminine health and sexual education, and self-defense courses. The nonprofit can also connect girls with mental health specialists and counselors to cope with stress and losses.

与利益相关者进行持续的对话,了解需求在哪里. Then she’ll meet with the programming team and find the resources to implement them.

“For example, we have a lot of parents who say, ‘I can’t focus on anything but my finances. I’m about to lose my house. I’m about to lose my car.’ We bring in financial literacy instructors to teach parents not only how to budget but also maximize and invest their money.TWST4Girls开设了购房和信用强化课程.

Lighting a Path to Their Goals

而TWST4Girls的所有产品对埃莉来说都是有意义的, 导师项目对她来说尤其重要.

“我们将这些女孩与那些走过这条桥实现目标的女性配对. 他们在达到目标时照亮了这条道路, and so the girls have specific career guidance to whatever it is that they dream or whatever it is that they aspire to do.”

Mentors and mentees communicate weekly and meet up at least once a month to work on their goals or have fun. The mentors can also be a resource for the girls on topics they might not feel comfortable discussing with their parents or friends. “It’s such a beautiful program. 你看到他们走出去,拥有所有这些经历.”

这是她长大后希望参加的一个项目. “I believe if I had TWST4Girls, I would have had the bridge from my dream to my goals,” Ealy says.

Avoiding Pitfalls Growing Up

埃莉在成长过程中遇到的挑战使她成为TWST4Girls的领导者.

She grew up in a single-parent family with several siblings and few financial resources. She dreamed of being a model and actress but didn’t have the resources or knowledge to follow those dreams. 埃莉形容自己是一个挂钥匙的孩子, 放学后回到补贴房的空房子.
She recalls being depressed and sad. Ealy says she didn’t have a father to reach out to for advice or counseling to cope with what she was going through. She was falling behind in school. 她最终暴露在同伴的压力和消极的情况下. “我在成长过程中陷入了很多陷阱.”

Part of the idea behind TWST4Girls is to help at-risk girls avoid those pitfalls: to intercept them before they get there or help them out if they are already there. “幸运的是,我活了下来,并在这些挑战之后取得了重大成功,”她说.

如今,埃莉是布鲁克斯的销售代理 & Davis Real Estate in Houston. She is an Accredited Buyer Specialist and Texas Affordable Housing Specialist with more than
15 years of sales experience.

“I really love hearing the joy in people’s hearts when they have a place of their own to bring their kids. The kids can roam; they aren’t stifled artistically or mentally. 他们有后院,他们可以演奏乐器. I love to see people grow—that’s one of the really awesome things about helping people find affordable housing.”

Word-of-Mouth Beginnings

Ealy started TWST4Girls in 2014. “After years of having this dream, 有一天,我停止了对这个问题的过度思考,并联系了几个同事. I told them my dream and asked if they would like to each place $20 in a fund to purchase supplies and launch TWST4Girls. 他们都同意了,然后我们就去买东西了.”

她说,埃利和她的团队从基金会开始建立TWST4Girls. 他们从事商业咨询和规划工作, role development, training, financial structures, operational procedures, and recruiting websites. 一旦一切就绪,他们就开始招募志愿者和年轻人.

她毫不费力地找到了第一批TWST4Girls的参与者. “During my real estate showings, 我看到一个年轻的女孩在无人监督的情况下和一群男孩在一起. 我问她我能不能见见她妈妈,告诉她我的组织. She took me to her mom, 我告诉她TWST即将举办的活动, 她妈妈对此非常热心. She was so excited that she instructed her daughter to go next door to get her friends, 然后她的朋友们去找他们的朋友.”

The first projects were small and simple, such as museum tours and painting in the park. TWST4Girls grew from there.

What’s Next for TWST4Girls

TWST4Girls正在努力获得年度资金. Ealy would love to see TWST4Girls get its own building, a safe haven for girls to go after school. “Definitely we would like to get some women on staff to help provide financial support and create jobs for people.” Ealy hopes to expand TWST4Girls to other cities where its services are needed.

埃利说,TWST4Girls的目标是扩大其导师计划, volunteer force, and pool of recurring donors. “利用你作为2021十大正规彩票app经纪人的影响力去帮助和支持他人, 我相信你这样做会有丰富的生活,” she advises.