In honor of Women’s History Month, CBS News Miami is highlighting the nonprofit WISH Foundation, the philanthropic arm of South Florida’s Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated chapter.
The foundation is dedicated to helping young women in the community reach their full potential through mentorship and service.
The images from the annual debutante ball look like something out of a storybook, young ladies dressed in white gowns, making their debut to society, but it’s more than a glamorous evening.
It’s the culmination of months of mentorship, leadership training, and community service.
CBS News Miami first met 12th grader Trinity Rollins earlier this year while she was assembling care packages for the Martin Luther King Day Parade.
“We do a lot of community service,” Rollins said. “This organization is mostly about mentorship and community service above all. We’ve done beach clean-ups, park clean-ups, food drives, hygiene drives.”
For 10th grader Kendall Briscoe, the program is about connection.
“What’s so great about it is I get to have a sisterhood that I never knew I could have,” Briscoe said. “I grew up with having a lot of brothers, so it’s nice to have sisters I can call my own.”
WISH stands for Women Involved in Service to Humanity. The high school participants are known as the Ivy Rosettes, with more than 60 teens taking part each year across Miami-Dade County.
Dr. Mary Mites-Campbell is the local chapter president of AKA.
“The girls are moving from unknown territory of who they are, to inspiring to who they need to become,” she said.
At the end of the Ivy Rosettes Mentoring Program, the young women make their formal debut at a cotillion.
Jacquelle Sconiers, chairman of the WISH Foundation and an Ivy Rosette graduate, says one moment stands out every year.
“The most memorable part is watching the father-daughter dance,” Sconiers said. “They have the foundation that was set at home, plus the support of the women around them and it’s safe,.”
By the end of the program, the young women leave with confidence, leadership skills, and the support system they need to reach their goals.
Through service, mentorship, and sisterhood, the Ivy Rosettes are learning to lead and to give back.
