“My daughter is that extremely shy, quiet yet strong minded girl who only wears black. I was surprised she said yes to this. Flourish helped her find more of herself and assure her transformative identity.
Having a mentor, someone other than her mother, was crucial for her growth and development. With the compassion and strength from Fire & Flower, she is now a mentor herself helping younger Indigenous girls develop leadership.”
Why is Mentorship and a Rite of Passage Essential?
Coming-of-age is the time in youth when focus starts to shift from home and family to the larger community or world. It is a rich period of change and self-discovery where we naturally start pushing boundaries to expand our sense of self and belonging in the world.
In pre-modern times, as youth moved away from parental dependence, cultures around the world had rites of passage where mentors and elders stepped in to guide this process of self-discovery towards finding personal gifts and developing confidence. Young people’s natural need for risk and experimentation was met through appropriate challenges aimed to catalyze the geniuses that were ready to emerge. The whole village would honour and celebrate their passage into their next stage in life.
Our modern Western culture sorely lacks such support, and many youths are coming-of-age through the media and peer influences. Girls and gender-diverse youth especially are targeted with very limiting and potentially dangerous ideas about beauty, power, body image and sex appeal. They indirectly learn that who they are is ‘not enough’ and that womanhood is about fitting inside a restrictive box.
Our Logic Model
Guidance
Guidance for the challenging balance as your child becomes an adult
Community
A whole community of women supporting your child
Freedom and independence
Freedom and independence while remaining connected
What Programs do Fire & Flower offer?
We offer several programs to prepare and empower girls and gender-diverse youth for young womanhood/adulthood. Our weekly 2-hour program for girls 10-12 is a great introduction to the fun and incredible changes of this special time in life. Our 5-day empowerment program for youth 10-14 happens during spring break and summer. We experience what it looks and feels like to be part of a community of sisterhood and start navigating hard-to-talk-about topics like body image, media literacy, menstruation and sexuality in a fun, honest and safe environment.
Every second year, we offer a comprehensive 6-month rite of passage program for youth 12-14 where participants are well-supported through their process into young adulthood. We dive deeper into the topics from our other programs, provide in-depth, personalized mentorship.
In addition, Flourish Education and Mentorship Society can create custom programs for your school or organization, and we can travel to your community to deliver our empowerment programs. We also provide individual mentorship outside of our regular programs. We look forward to connecting with you!