Sponsor a Girl

We need to talk.

In January 2025, my daughter Avery's friends lost their homes in the Eaton Fire. She was 14. She asked for help getting girls the things they needed to feel like themselves again. 44 million people saw her post. That's how Altadena Girls started.

The United Nations says teen girls are the most overlooked people in any disaster. Billions of dollars go to disaster relief, and almost none of it is built for what teen girls need.

After a disaster, 1 in 3 teen girls develops a mental health condition. The teen years are when a girl figures out who she is. Trauma at this age can follow her for life.

Teens can't heal alone on their phones. They heal next to real people: friends, and adults they trust.

So we opened a free center just for teen girls. Four days a week in Pasadena: art therapy, a music studio, free clothes and essentials, and small groups where every girl is known by name.

We asked our girls what makes it feel safe. One 7th grader said: when my friends are here.

They keep coming back. 540 girls are members, and more than half of first-time visitors become regulars.

Almost two years later, most people have moved on. Our girls are still healing. Every afternoon, I see the same girls walk through our door. They need it to be there tomorrow.

For $5.48 a day, you can sponsor one girl for a whole year. That's $2,000, or $170 a month.

I'm asking 10 people to do it by October 31. Will you be one?

— Lauren Sandidge, Co-Founder, Altadena Girls