Courage once acquired endures. It sustains one to live, not with fear, but with confidence. It is this premise that a vision birthed out of hope and love became the foundation of Changing Circles. My deepest passion is to give to women, teens, and girls a haven of hope and love anchored in the law of life. I realize that the most important part of life is life itself and there are universal values and timeless laws of life that transcend all cultures and religions. My belief is that as we have strategic ways to discover and reflect upon the different events we've journeyed through, people we've known and lessons we've learned, we gain the power and courage to transform our lives into more deeply useful and blissful experiences. I offer Changing Circles as a crucial component to having victory over failure, direction over aimlessness, and awareness over ignorance by teaching dependable skills. These skills have made the difference between disappointment and success for a generation of women and girls.
Much too often, women are faced with internal and external stresses caused by the indubitable pressures of life. Emotional ups and downs due to rapid and radical changes, not managing time well, overwhelmed by family and work, responsibilities, conflicts and emergencies, and ordinary distractions that affect our personal effectiveness can be all too much to bear when trying to do the balancing act alone.
Equally so, are the demands facing our young girls and teens. The pressures to be heard and have feelings respected and their uniqueness honored inspired a "girl-circle" and “teen-girl” connection that allow their voices to echo, their feelings to be made known, and their distinctiveness to be paid attention to by peers and other adults. Changing Circles help to stimulate conversations and critical thinking opportunities, motivate interacting or techniques, encourage age-appropriate activities and provide the skills that will get our children off and back on the right foot giving them a sisterhood experience to remember.
Under-girding every program, approach, and event is principled, ethical, and spiritual values allowing change to petition to the heart of the individual and to utilize the values provided by the key institutions of family and church. No matter your race, color, or creed, character development and spirituality shapes and changes who we are and affects our attitude to life-long learning and fundamental feelings of dignity, worth and self-respect.
Changing Circles is an innovative character education program that participants can look to for fellowship with other women, teens, and girls to share the commonalities that bind them. I have examined myself regarding how I view other women and found that because our lives are intertwined I have a strong zeal to see our needs met and our goals come to fruition. Most compelling is the need to confide in and trust someone most sensitive to your needs because they are the same and the bond that is formed by a common thread of unity is built. The unity that comes from loving your neighbor as you love yourself, incidentally, is the reality that Changing Circles is initiated on.
In essence, the housewife looking for relief from home life needs change. The uninspired needing something constructive or simply different to do needs change. The professional looking for a new career needs change. The frustrated and rendered powerless needs change. The unprepared for societal responsibilities needs change.
The “I have it all” and “life is good” needs change. Changing Circles is for every woman and girl and will teach how to have realistic expectations of what you can achieve and give you the tools that build confidence towards those goals. Changing Circles presents all the positive qualities you can admire in people to produce the moral strength and fortitude of our young and older women alike. By providing challenges to elevate our perspectives and deeds, Changing Circles highlights the need to combat negative and distorted images of women and girls to allow excellence to shine through.
Truly inspirational is Changing Circles’ wisdom and hope for the future. Changing Circles endeavors to encourage, broaden horizons, and excite you with ways to replenish that which you have been depleted of when you've met every need but your own.
All are invited to come to a place of personal destiny by way of universal change.
Alethea A. Crockett, M.Ed.
Founder & President
