My Girlfriend’s House was created in order to provide guidance to impoverished teenage girls, as well as provide them with amenities and items that they need in order to relieve them of some financial burden. But our decision to help these teen girls was not a spontaneous one: there exists in the community of urban teenage girls a widespread issue of the self.

A myriad of social problems affect the impoverished teen girl community. Instances of depression, truancy, poor grades, dropping out of school, teen pregnancy, STDs, abuse (self and otherwise), and homelessness can all be found in large concentrations in the poor urban environments of the D.C. metropolitan area.

Some facts from the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute:

• Only 20 percent of students in elementary schools in D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods score at or above grade level, compared with 60 percent of students in schools in the lowest-poverty areas.
  
• D.C.’s poorest neighborhoods have a violent crime rate which is six times higher than in its lowest- poverty areas.
  
• Nearly half of all substantiated cases of child abuse and neglect come from the poorest fifth of D.C. neighborhoods. The rate of substantiated abuse and neglect in these neighborhoods is seven times higher than in low-poverty neighborhoods and twice as high as in moderate-poverty neighborhoods.
  
• The poorest fifth of D.C. neighborhoods accounted for 40 percent of all teen births in 2001, a teen birth rate which was six times higher than in D.C.’s lowest-poverty neighborhoods.

What does this have to do with the self? Studies show that in many cases, a poor sense of self-esteem and self-worth can contribute to risks of depression, poor grades, and other assorted personal and psychological problems. Likewise, receiving poor grades, being bullied, or poverty can reinforce the individual’s feeling of low self-worth, creating a cycle of negative feelings and reactions.

What exactly is self-esteem?

The University of Texas Counseling and Mental Health Center (UTCMHC) describes self-esteem as something “more fundamental than the ups and downs associated with situational changes.” Those with good self-esteem take life’s ups and downs in stride. Though it may temporarily knock them off their horse, they know such setbacks are temporary; they’re ready to get back on the saddle before long because they know they are capable of accomplishing their goals.

Those with poor self-esteem, on the other hand, are more affected by life’s ups and downs. These same setbacks encountered by those with good self-esteem prove more dire to those with low self-esteem and drastically impact the way they see themselves. Ultimately, healthy self-esteem is based on our ability to assess ourselves accurately and still be accepting of who we are.

According to the UTCMHC, a number of factors may contribute to positive and negative self-esteem:

It may not be much of a stretch to infer that many children in the impoverished community have low self-esteem. As detailed throughout this magazine, the young impoverished often lack many of the quality-of-life items and experiences afforded to those with a greater financial standing. Bullying or teasing as a result of their impoverished status and an unstable home life contribute to several of the factors listed under the UTCMHC low self-esteem chart. In fact, many of the mentees we take into the Girl Talk Mentoring Program express early on that they don’t have the sense of self-worth that they desire.

Though poverty is not the sole cause of low self-esteem, the two feed into one another in a cycle, which some researchers refer to as “the poverty trap”. Avoiding a seemingly endless, unavoidable path of low self-esteem and its associated psychological and physical health problems is one of our goals in taking on mentees at My Girlfriend’s House. We want to empower and educate the underserved teenage girls of the D.C. metropolitan area, allowing them to understand and value themselves as individuals so that they may make decisions that help gain control of their lives.

How do we want to combat this relationship between poverty and low self-esteem?

My Girlfriend’s House seeks to address the issue from multiple angles. The Girl Talk Mentoring Program offers teenage girls an outlet for positive adult role models and guidance. In the program, the girls have a place where they can be listened to, talk about their personal issues and problems in a safe environment, receive positive encouragement, and plenty of attention and affection. These values help foster an increased sense of self-confidence and self-esteem in our mentees.

My Girlfriend’s House also helps alleviate financial strain placed upon the mentees providing several donation programs meant to provide items the girls typically need, but often lack. The Purse Strings for My Girlfriends’ Purse Drive and d-Store both provide material support for the mentees, as well as many of the homeless shelters in the D.C. metropolitan area.

Though the complete eradication of poverty and low self-esteem remains a distant ideal, raising awareness within the teenage girl community about the power they have to change not only their own circumstances, but of those around them remains an important priority for My Girlfriend’s House. By affecting the community directly, we can help create an atmosphere of positive energy and philanthropic action. As a community problem, the solution will most effectively be found where those affected by the issue preside: the community.