A Place for Young Women to Grow - The New York Community Trust

April 27, 2021 | By The New York Community Trust

A Place for Young Women to Grow

A PLACE TO THRIVE: Kelitha in the library at Flanbwayan’s office in Brooklyn.

Kelitha is a poet and an aspiring nurse practitioner who lives in Flatbush, Brooklyn, with her aunt and younger sister. When she moved here five years ago at age 12, she had left her mother behind in Haiti, and spoke no English. Isolated and homesick, she discovered the Flanbwayan Haitian Literacy Project through her school. The group, named after a tropical flowering tree, has been a lifeline for her.

“I found a community that has been central to my life,” Kelitha said. “Now I also work there after school, recruiting young women into a program that helps us figure out how to prepare for, finance, and survive in college. What’s more, we advocate for the rights of Haitian women and all immigrants.”

During the pandemic, she led this college prep program virtually and used the group’s offices for her own remote schooling because her home does not have Wi-Fi.

Kelitha’s work for Flanbwayan is made possible through a $120,000 Trust grant, which we were able to make thanks to our Mildred Anna Williams Fund—created more than 80 years ago to support young women and girls. We think Ms. Williams would be proud of Kelitha and the organization she considers a home away from home.