Heather Latter
The “I Am Awesome! (And I Know It!)” self-esteem and empowerment retreat for young women was named a grand-prize winner in the Aviva Community Fund competition, earning a total of $45,000.
“I am so excited—a little teary, very humbled, and slightly overwhelmed,” retreat director Renée Martin-Brown enthused yesterday morning after hearing the announcement live on CTV’s Canada AM.
“I saw it and said, ‘We won!’” she recalled, noting they had the big cheques on location and listed all of the winners, where they were from, and how much they earned.
“It’s totally amazing—I couldn’t even put it into words how I was feeling,” Martin-Brown remarked.
The retreat, which ran for the first time Sept. 26-29 at Hanson’s Hideaway Lodge in Nestor Falls, had been vying for a share of the $1 million up for grabs through a process that began back in October.
Thanks to online voting by the community, Martin-Brown’s submission made it into the semi-finals—and then the final round—to become a grand-prize winner as determined by a panel of judges.
“Thank you to everyone who has supported the retreat throughout this process,” Martin-Brown said.
“I could not have done it without your support or your votes.
“Thank you for believing in me, but thank you so much more for believing in our community and the empowerment of our young women,” she added.
Martin-Brown noted the e-mail from Aviva stated “that the judges thought it was a great idea and very inspiring for a remote community to be able to pull together and try to make an impact on their youth.”
It also noted “the idea was unique and that it was a great example of what the Aviva Community Fund initiative is all about.”
Martin-Brown will use the $45,000 to host a regional retreat this fall, looking to have upwards of 75 girls aged 10-14 attend.
“We’re looking to expand and have girls come from across Northwestern Ontario,” she explained.
The retreat helps girls discover more about themselves while participating in various workshops throughout the weekend, such as drama, music, visual arts, yoga, creative writing, Internet safety, and healthy cooking.
The money also will allow there to be three social workers on site for the duration of the retreat.
“We only had one for the afternoon last time and only two girls got to speak with her privately,” Martin-Brown recalled.
“These girls need support and need to know they have supports in place,” she stressed.
Throughout the Aviva process, the “I Am Awesome! (And I Know It!)” retreat has been working to receive accreditation as a non-profit organization.
“It’s all about making a difference to the girls, in our community, and to see these girls become ambassadors for other youth their age,” Martin-Brown reasoned.
“They can inspire other young girls and it’s happening,” she added.
“There is a trickle-down effect.”
For more information about the retreat, visit www.i-am-awesome.ca
