When Aliyah was six years old, her parents signed her up at the Warren Boys & Girls Club. She was an only child and home-schooled. The Club offered her an important social outlet, a safe place to play and make friends.
As Aliyah got older, her interests at the Club grew. She joined Torch Club, a service and leadership group for middle school members, and then Keystone, a leadership program for teens. She began to help her community in ways she never imagined. She put together care packages for homeless women and led fundraisers to support prenatal health for mothers and babies. Aliyah was beginning to find her voice and have real impact.
As school became more challenging, her Club staff was always there to encourage and push her. She joined
CareerBound – a program focused on helping kids find success in school, college, and career. Through this initiative, she had access to college fairs, field trips, and college tours. She also secured her first official job at the Warren Boys & Girls Club, mentoring younger kids, fine-tuning her resume and job skills, and paying it forward to the place that taught her so much.
A junior in high school now, when Aliyah graduates, she hopes to attend Stanford UCLA. She is planning to become a physician for a leading sports team.
But Aliyah is not waiting until she graduates to share her voice. She feels it is important for teens to lead in their communities right now. “We have to take ownership. We are the future. We have to speak up.”