Nonprofit brings mental health awareness, confidence boosts to young girls

BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — The 10th annual Outstanding Mature Girlz Conference is coming in full force to the Baton Rouge community.

The conference will be held at 10 a.m. on May 20 at Southern University’s Intramural Sports Complex. Doors open at 8 a.m.

With over a decade of impacting almost 6,500 young girls in the area, the nonprofit has made a mission to provide a free event with empowerment and a place to discuss the importance of mental health among young girls.  

In 2013, Sashika Bounchand decided to bring Outstanding Mature Girlz to life. Bouchard, along with other mentors, provides a safe space for young women to feel valued and bring awareness to mental health. 

“You should be confident. You should have wonderful self-esteem. You should be proud of who you are. You should be just a queen. Beautifully purpose, all that great stuff,” Baunchand said. 

Club Leader of Outstanding Mature Girlz Beverly Warren is one of the daily mentors and said this organization and event are very needed in the community. 

“When I was a young girl, it was very hard to discuss things about your body and having mental health issues. So it’s important that we open those doors,” she said. 

Members of the organization range in a variety of ages, and eight-year-old Sky Warren invites other young girls to learn the many things she has been taught.

“I feel that the most important thing about this organization is to help younger girls or young women feel good about themselves and feel valued,” she said. 

Saniya Smith is another member. As a young teen who is maturing, she has seen the need for mental health awareness in the Baton Rouge community. 

“I know people, my friends who have friends that have killed themselves because they weren’t properly educated on how to deal with their emotions. And I think it’s good that I’m learning, my friends are learning, my mom is learning, everybody’s learning,” Smith said. 

Baunchand is excited to expand these lessons to the community this weekend with the annual conference and hopes people leave feeling like new individuals. 

“Come in a certain way and leave out feeling even better inspired, empowered,” she said. 

Prior to this year, the event is said to make a big impact on the community. Baunchand said this event is free and couldn’t be done without volunteers and sponsors who made it happen. 

The nonprofit is home to 200 young girls who practice the mission of empowerment and mental health awareness on a daily basis. 

For more information on how to be a volunteer, donate to the nonprofit or have a young girl become a club member, click here.