Life & Work with Brittney Smith

Today we’d like to introduce you to Brittney Smith.

Hi Brittney, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself
Positively Empowering and Restoring Ladies Self-Esteem (PEARLS), Inc. is an urban girls mentoring and empowerment group designed to provide safe spaces for girls of color from the pockets of Cleveland’s communities. PEARLS began as a school-based program but couldn’t proceed due to COVID-19. After dwelling and having some conversations with a few girls that initially signed up, we decided to begin moving as a community-based organization.

Throughout the early spring and summer of 2020, we were able to hit the ground running by providing girls with free group-based activities and community events. Our mission is to nurture authenticity and self-love within young girls in urban communities through mentoring, education, engagement, empowerment, and exposure. We do this by providing girls with practical experiences and connecting them to resources and opportunities that can possibly contribute to their personal growth. Since 2020, we have been able to service over 30 girls with direct services (group-based and one-to-one mentoring and engagement and over 300 people with our community service projects.

Community service is a huge component of the PEARLS model! We believe that building our girls up and encouraging them to connect more with their communities can allow them to become stakeholders and to feel more competent and confident. In addition to providing mentoring services, we have created an additional safe space, our PEARLS Girls‘ Community Closet, which is a pantry concept with a boutique design, that houses clothing items, and hygiene products for girls and women at no cost. We receive clothing items from community members and put them on our floor for those in need to come in and receive an in-store shopping experience. With this added service, we have been able to help over 100 people, women and girls, in the city. With this initiative our participants are able to score volunteer hours by coming to help out.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Believe it or not, it has been more smooth than not! Obviously we had some struggles with COVID-19 and the health requirements, places that weren’t open or couldn’t hold over a certain number of people. Because of this, we had to be creative with some of our projects and either host them outside or with a smaller audience. We have been able to provide many opportunities to bring joy to the lives of girls and community members. Most of our struggles revolved around not being able to connect as intimately as we wanted to. One lesson that comes to mind is being comfortable with asking for help. Because I’m used to doing a lot independently, it’s hard for me to ask for help. I’m learning to put trust into the process and share tasks with people who want to help.

Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I have been in the social and human services for 10 years and I love it! I attended Youngstown State University and graduated from Cleveland State University with a Bachelor’s in Social Work. I have been able to work with just about all of the different populations that are connected to the field, which has developed me into a well-rounded professional. I am a community-oriented individual that loves connecting with people and bringing others together. It is my personal belief that we all need each other so I try to always look at life and people through that lens.

In addition to direct social services, I’ve found a love with working in community and learning about city and neighborhood planning during my time as a Program Manager with a local community developmental corporation. It is that role that further developed my love for community and deepened my dedication for my beloved hometown of Cleveland. I specialize in youth development and community development and am known for my compassion and creativity, creating experiences for young people. Currently, I work at an all girls school in Cleveland, Warner Girls Leadership Academy, in which I enjoy learning more and more about young girls and sharing in their experience. I’m also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. which also gives me another platform to serve. I think what sets me apart (humbly speaking) is my mysterious and quiet ways but the strength to deliver without making a lot of noise and also my creativity along with calming spirit.

What are your plans for the future?
I am excited about the future and the plans that we have with our PEARLS Girls Closet. We just received the opportunity to partner with a local neighborhood center in Cleveland to serve more individuals in need and have created the opportunities to expand our closet services to become mobile by doing community pop-ups. We are also looking to refocus our work with girls in Cleveland’s communities.