Nine Strong Women is a Newark, NJ-based organization formed in the summer of 2008. The organization is the vision of a young Newark native, Jessica “Jayda” Jacques. Jayda, 24, was raised in Newark and joined a gang during her early high school years. Recognizing the risks of violence, early pregnancy and motherhood, and drugs and alcohol, Jayda has endeavored to reach out to young women offering an alternative to gangs and street culture. The objective of Nine Strong Women is to connect young women with resources within the city of Newark and in the suburbs of the greater Newark area to provide educational opportunities, guidance in preparation for college and job application processes, leadership skills, etiquette and articulation training, health care and hygiene, and fellowship. The goal is to help "our young ladies" to be self-sufficient , independent and to cultivate a network of supporters that will aid in shepherding these young women through the vulnerable teenage years.
Nine Strong Women is allied with diverse organizations who share the common goal of assisting the most “at risk” and vulnerable members of the Newark community. The majority of these organizations specialize in working with men or young mothers. This program is specifically designed to target those young women in their early teenage years who are at risk, but have yet to become actively involved in gang violence or street culture. The 9 Strong Women approach not only provides practical skills and training, but seeks to create a climate of "sisterhood" that will help these young women remain strong in the face of adversity and temptation. It is Jayda’s understanding that, “Our young ladies are in need of a program strictly for them that will give them hope that they can and will accomplish their goals in life. A program that will encourage them to remain positive in the urban environment in which they live.”
9 Strong Women takes its name from the nine young women, ages 13 - 16, who have come together as its charter members. These young women have been recruited individually and independently from Westside and Eastside High Schools in Newark to join this organization based on both their need and their potential. These high schools are notorious for under-education and violence. All of the 9 Strong Women ladies live in unstable family structures and surviving at poverty levels on public assistance or minimum wage incomes. The culture of their neighborhoods perpetuates trends of crime, violence, early sexual activity and teenage motherhood, gang presence, and use of drugs and alcohol. Through one-on-one intervention and personal attention provided by Jayda and other mentors, these young women are learning to make healthy, even life-saving, choices in stressful and pressured situations. For example, Jayda recently learned that one of our ladies was tempted to try “gank,” a new street drug combining ether and embalming fluid which is inhaled. Jayda called our young lady and told her to watch her friends do the drug and see if she liked what she saw. Our young lady declined to participate in taking the drug and has resisted drugs and alcohol since that time. It is our understanding that a lack of caring adult guidance in the lives of these young women, and a lack of exposure to alternatives to their present situations, does not offer a vision of a vital, contributing and healthy future. It is our hope that 9 Strong Women will develop a small group of determined, focused young women with moral values and self-esteem, and that these young women will become leaders as this program grows into other high schools within Newark and perhaps beyond Newark.