With the theme of \u201cHer Story,\u201d Pace Center for Girls Citrus shared with the community at a fundraising breakfast how the all-girls school helps girls rewrite their stories of trauma, instability, violence and\/or abuse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At Pace, girls in middle- and high-school grades learn not just math and reading, but life skills, how to manage their anger, how to regain lost confidence and how to take responsibility for their actions and choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They learn that their voice matters, that their mental and emotional health matters, that they are capable and that what may have happened to them in the past doesn\u2019t have to define them, that they have the power to change the trajectory of their future and write their own “happily ever after” ending.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They can learn better communication skills and how to handle stressful situations in a positive way. And they have people who listen to them and value them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAt Pace, we believe in the power of every girl,\u201d said Pace executive director Angela Kennedy. \u201cNot just some, but all girls, regardless of their story, their past or the obstacles they have faced, deserve a safe, supportive space to grow, to heal and to thrive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe believe every girl has a spark inside of her that, if nurtured with care and compassion, can light the way to a future full of strength, resilience and success. The truth is, too many girls are held back by circumstances beyond their control. But at Pace we say, \u2018Not anymore.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe are here to remove the barriers, to remind every girl that she is seen, she is capable and she is not alone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to information from 2024, Pace Center for Girls, which opened in 2018 in the Lecanto school complex, has served 3,048 girls. The average age is 14. Forty-four percent are middle-school age and 56% are high-school age.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Besides academics and life-skills training, girls can meet with mental health counselors. Also, the class sizes are small, so girls have the opportunity to form positive relationships with their teachers and other girls.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One of the event\u2019s guest speakers, 15-year-old Daniella Diaz, has been at Pace for about a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Eight years ago, she and her twin came from the Bronx, New York, to live with their grandmother.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn sixth grade I started getting into trouble \u2026 and my Nana heard about Pace Center for Girls from a school counselor,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen she first mentioned it to me, I told her, \u2018No way! I don\u2019t want to go to an all-girls school.\u2019 But she convinced me to take a tour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat stood out to me the most, at the end of the tour they said it was MY decision, and that was the cool thing. I chose Pace because I wanted to change. I wanted to work on my attitude and become a better person.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She said, \u201cGirls come to Pace for different reasons. People assume we\u2019re troubled or bad, but that\u2019s not true. We are here because we want to grow, to be better than our past, our choices or our challenges in our environments.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She added that after leaving Pace, her goal is to join the Army and go to school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOne day, I hope to earn a degree in psychology so I can help others,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m grateful that Pace has given me the chance to change my future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another speaker, Pace board member Rachel Cullen, told the story of a little girl who grew up with a father who battled drug addiction, who couldn\u2019t hold a job and who was often violent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the girl was 10, her mother found the courage to leave the abusive situation, and she and her children found safety four hours away from the dad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, the girl\u2019s mother started drinking to cover her pain and became an alcoholic. Then, when the girl was 14, her father killed himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHer world was defined by drugs, alcohol, violence and death,\u201d Cullen said. \u201cSo, with no stability at home and nowhere to turn, she sought refuge in the place that felt most familiar, the streets. It offered her what she already knew \u2014 more drugs, more violence, more pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor the next 20 years she lived in that cycle, unknowingly continuing the generational trauma she was born into \u2014 a living hell on earth. But by the grace of God, I stand before you today with six years of sobriety, continuing to break generational traumas. I am that little girl.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She went on to say that many of the girls who come to Pace have similar childhood and family stories filled with \u201cheartbreak and instability, substance abuse, violence and trauma.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I see myself in these girls,” she said. “Twelve-year-old girls \u2014 this is the time of life that shapes their future. That\u2019s why supporting Pace Center for Girls matters.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n