The Pineapple Foundation has officially launched Cohort 2 of Project Bloom, a mentorship programme aimed at empowering teenage girls to embrace their worth and build brighter futures.
Founder of the Pineapple Foundation and Councillor for Belmont East, Nicole Young, welcomed the new participants of Cohort 2 of Project Bloom with a message of hope and purpose.
The initiative offers year-long support for young women aged 13 to 17, helping them grow in confidence, character and purpose.
“In this programme, you all will be able to have one-on-one mentorship, one-on-one mentoring. You’ll be able to do community service projects, and of course you will have educational and training activities aimed at helping you grow in confidence, character, and capacity.”
Opposition Leader Pennelope Beckles encouraged the young women to stay on the right path and make smart choices to secure their future.
She reminded them that one mistake can change everything as she made reference to the recent incident with students of Holy Faith Convent.
“I want to just take the time to remind you that projects like these can help you to understand that the dreams you have to be many different things, whether it’s lawyers, doctors, a chef, whether you want to be a hairdresser, you know, it matters not. Whether you want to be a nurse, teacher, if you get into trouble, you reduce your chances of fulfilling that dream.”
She also encouraged the mentees to lean on their mentors and take full advantage of the opportunity to build a positive future.
“I didn’t have this. I didn’t have nobody. I didn’t have no Councillor Nicole Young, right, with doing no programme for me because, you know, a lot of things growing up as children and young girls, you didn’t have much people to tell you about anything much so your likelihood is you might get into trouble. You all have the benefit of having a programme that would reduce your likelihood of getting into trouble. So when you see you have a mentor, all the hard questions that you don’t want to ask your mother, ask the mentor.”
With support from the East Port of Spain Development Company and a network of committed mentors, Project Bloom is planting seeds of growth and resilience — one girl at a time.