One lesson at a time, Verkeya Holman-Davis is doing her part to help the young women of New York City.
A forty-year-old woman from Harlem, New York, Verkeya is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW) in The Bronx. She became a social worker in 2008 after graduating from NYU Silver School of Social Work, with her Master’s Degree in social work.
“I love working with youth. I knew it was my niche and I felt like I had a responsibility to work with them. I felt a responsibility to pay-it-forward for the support that I received as a teenager from (people at) school and church.” She says.
Holman-Davis is the founder and CEO of the charity Verkeya Speaks. Her organization provides a platform for people to share their experiences with hardships in life, such as her own experiences with infertility and Lupus. But after almost 12 years, she wants to do more.
Holman-Davis is gearing up for a new workshop she’s running for the young women of Harlem. “How to Become a Successful Young Woman” will run for six weeks, starting at the end of February, and will target women age 15 to 17-years-old. Every class will have lessons in life skills such as finances, healthy eating/living, and investing. Holman-Davis says that it’s important that these young people are being educated on things like managing their money. She also has books donated from a local bookstore to run a book club within the workshop.
During the workshop Verkeya has a panel planned, featuring women with different careers such as dental hygienists to iron workers. She says that the key is showing young people a variety of career options, “Young people are pressured to be doctors, lawyers, and teachers. These students can be so much more if they’re exposed to other opportunities.”
When asked what inspired her to create this program, Verkeya says that she knew she wouldn’t be where she is today without the support circle she had around her as a teenager. According to the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 84% of teens between the ages of 14 and 17 think highly of their mother, and 81% of their father. But Holman-Davis says that this doesn’t mean they’re always willing to open up to their parents. In fact, Project Teen Canada reports that 39% of teenagers say the feel misunderstood by their parents. She knows what this is like from first hand experience.
“One time, on my way home from church a guy on the bus comes up to me and starts talking to me. He’s older than me, I was 15-16. He invited me to his house… and I went! He gives me $50.00 and his phone number and tells me to call him. Obviously I never did. I easily could’ve been trafficked that day. I never would have told my parents, but I called my older cousin and told her what had happened. She laid into me like a parent. Sometimes it’s not our parents doing the parenting.”
Verkeya knows that she has a lot to teach younger women, for instance “Don’t get involved with older dudes. As a social-worker I see it happen all the time. It doesn’t end well. I’ve seen it all, physical assault, rape, murder. Seeing these women in my work, I know that I got lucky and I want to support other young people. I want them to know someone out there cares about them. Thinks about them. That’s what my program is for, that support matters.”
In the age where social media reigns and poor self-esteem runs rampant, these groups are more important than ever.
Though its first series has yet to begin, Verkeya says that she plans on hosting them biannually. “This time I wanted to target girls from my borough, Harlem, to give back to my community. But I want to do these sessions twice a year to help as many girls as possible.”
How to Become a Young Woman is set to start on Saturday, February 22nd, 2020.
Written by: Devon Banfield
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