Davidson-based group seeks women to join its caring circles

The Circle de Luz Class of 2014 enjoys yoga during their Wellness Day Camp recently.

By MICHELE MILLER HOUCK

Rosie Molinary is on a mission. And she’s bringing 55 of her closest friends. (I know, because I am one of them.)

They call themselves “M’ijas” (a contraction meaning “my girlfriends” and pronounced “mee-has”), and they are working to empower young Latinas to graduate from high school through mentoring, programming and a promise of a scholarship upon graduation from high school. It’s called Circle de Luz, and it is a new way of giving small amounts to make a real difference in the lives of young women.

“Along the way, the M’ijas serve as phone mentors, pen pals, camp counselors, career panelists, ropes course partners, hiking guides, dinner dates and friends as we provide experiences for these girls to become the women that they dream of being,“ says Ms. Molinary, a Davidson resident and Davidson College graduate.  “What has been valuable to me about this experience — and likely to other M’ijas as well — is that being with these girls reunites us with a sense of hope and possibility and unifies us in support of them.”

Ms. Molinary, Circle Founder and lead M’ija, is a former Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools teacher and Davidson College administrator. She has witnessed firsthand the power of education on girls’ self-confidence and ability to succeed. While she was traveling the country promoting her book, “Hijas Americanas: Beauty, Body Image and Growing Up Latina,” she met hundreds of young Latinas and was struck by their optimism in the face of overwhelming statistics to the contrary.

According to the “Kids Count Data Book,” Latinos have the highest dropout rate of any racial or ethnic group. One-third of Latinas dropouts cite pregnancy or marriage as the reason. Fifty-three percent will become pregnant at least once before the age of 20. These are the statistics that Rosie and the M’ijas were facing when they identified their first class of seventh graders last year at Charlotte’s James Martin Middle School.

A TEAM OF SUPPORTERS

The program identifies girls at the beginning of seventh grade and follows them until they graduate high school. Graduates receive a minimum of $5,000 towards post-high school education and the confidence of knowing that there are a group of 50 women who believe in them.

M’ijas give a minimum of $90 for six years, and the circles include anywhere from 50 to 100 women. Some women simply write the check; others get more involved.

The first circle involved a number of Davidson women, including Kristi Foley, Stephanie Glaser, Suzanne Hurley, Annie Ingram, Harriett Kessler, Maria Magdalena Maiz-Pena, Georgia Ringle, Mary Wilson Stewart, Brenda Tapia, Margo Williams, Amy Diamond, Gayle Kaufman, Rosemary Klein, Susan Ross, Betsey Stewart and, of course, Rosie. These women joined others all over the country to sponsor eight girls in the Class of 2014 who have just finished the first year of the program.

YOU CAN HELP – JOIN A CIRCLE

A second circle is now forming around young women from Ranson Middle School. Circle de Luz needs 90 women to fund 10 new scholarships before the end of August for the Class of 2015.

Rosie’s vision, conceived while she was promoting “Hijas Americanas,”  is for women all over the country to answer the call and for circles to form around girls in cities and towns everywhere.

More information about Circle de Luz, including instructions on how to sign up to be a M’ija can be found at the organization’s website at www.circledeluz.org.

RELATED COVERAGE

Listen to a DavidsonNews.net audio interview from 2007 with Rosie Molinary talking about her book “Hijas Americanas.” Nov. 16, 2007, “4-minute interview: Rosie Molinary.”