A conversation with Stacey clinched the deal.   Kristine began to familiarize herself more thoroughly with Unleashed by observing one of the 12 week programs in one of the schools.  “It was profound to watch the weekly progress as these girls gained their own sense of empowerment.”  “I witnessed firsthand the effect of the program on the lives of these girls.”  Kristine was inspired to do more and is now putting her skills and experience to work on the Executive Committee of the Board as secretary, and chairing Fund Development.

The research I conducted, looking at powerful women, repeatedly showed that women who were passionate about a cause, regardless of whether it was a social issue or a change in their industry, would use their power more effectively.

Unleashed leverages the passion middle school girls have for animal rights and welfare to propel them on a personal journey leading to a transformative experience –individually and collectively. At this critical age in their development, girls yearn to have an outlet for their new found sense of injustice; their re-evaluation of the world around them and the questioning of values and beliefs that were previously a “given.”

Passion is the fuel that keeps women and girls energized, without it we feel disengaged, empty, and struggle to find it again. Recently, at Kappa IV, a middle school in Harlem, I presented the Program to 180 girls. At first girls were not listening, distracted and talking to one another.  We stopped; they looked up; I said “Who cares about animals?” almost every hand was raised immediately.  “Do you want to hear what is happening to animals all over our country, how it’s connected to what’s happening to people?” Girls listened. “How many of you would like to do something about this by joining a program that is coming to your school?” Every girl clamored to get an application to register-180 applications for 20 slots. It validated how girls in middle school, similar to adult women, want to actively partake in a mission to do something meaningful.

The onset of Unleashed is marked by this initial passion.  But girls are not the only ones who are eager to develop and channel it.  As fall begins I have observed our women volunteers giving up weekends to attend orientations, training in our mission and philosophy and animal rescue,  forming committee meetings and launching new initiatives. The generation gap narrows because as the girls have told me “we are all in this together.” Camaraderie between many generations happens at all levels of Unleashed-our board, volunteers, supporters, and children. Unleashed is my modernized version of a feminist movement and it is working. Girls partner with women and women partner with other women despite research showing that there is a huge divide among the various generations. Mothers will work alongside their daughters this year as I myself have partnered with Jordyn, my own twelve year old. Working side by side, as equals, has truly deepened our relationship and bridged our two worlds-mom and daughter. And, at the very heart of it all, the commonality that levels the playing field and serves as the bridge inter and intra generation is passion. 

In the Unleashed program, Stacey helps us make new friends and the group becomes like a family. She helps us find our voice, stand up for what’s right for us and supports us and our individual differences. It’s surprising how well we work together in such a short time.

Before I entered this program, I didn’t really know much about animal welfare or what my interests were. Now I think that once I’m older I’d like to volunteer or work in a shelter and maybe even go on some of the rescue trips. Our job during the rescues is to help socialize the dogs so they will leave happily with their new adopters. It’s the part I like the best. We get to send the puppies off to a new home where they can be loved and forget about their sad past.

Queenie, Unleashed class of 2012

My Unleashed Story

The day I got Corey my foster puppy, I didn’t know what to expect. I was exhilarated to finally have another dog in my house, but also nervous because I had to take full responsibility for Corey, after all, I’m just eleven. What if the puppy got lost? What if it got hurt? What if it ruined our house? The questions were racing through my head and I knew I was heading for trouble. It didn’t matter though, because I was saving a puppy’s life and even if that took a lot of work I was defiantly up for it.

You might be wondering how I got started with this whole idea. You see, I had to complete a “worthwhile project” for school, in which you have to do something meaningful to the world and your life. I wanted to do something involving dogs but I didn’t know what. My mom and I talked about this and when she told me about “Unleashed” and the puppy rescues, and that I might be able to foster a puppy, I thought it was the most brilliant idea. I contacted Stacey Radin, and told her that I would be interested in raising the money to rescue a pup and also wished to foster one of the puppies. She said yes, and then I could hardly wait for the day to arrive.

The day finally came and we went to the Dog Spa on the east side, to pick up Corey, the most adorable, little 9 week-old, white fur ball. I held him, and I embraced his delicate body. I could feel his bumpy rib cage all up his side. I was so lucky I got to save Corey’s life.

For a little puppy he had the most energy in the world. He would jump up the stairs, dance around the house and ran around with my dog Pepper. From the moment he came to our house, my siblings and I looked at each other and said, “We need to keep this dog.” Corey was quite brilliant too. He knew to pee on the wee-wee pads, and he knew when he had to go in the crate to rest. He needed an exquisite home and I was so blessed he got adopted by a caring family, who would promise to keep him safe from harm.

I will never ever forget Corey and the joy he brought to my home. I hope he has the most splendid life. I hope I can foster many more puppies in the future, but no puppy will be like Corey, and that my friend is certain.

Saying goodbye is not an easy task for anyone. I admit that I have a very hard time with it. As three more teams graduate this month, there are many fallen faces when I ask them how they feel about ending Unleashed.  The responses are always the same; often filled with sadness and a desire to continue.  As with so many situations in the program, this time offers an opportunity for the life lesson of saying goodbye and how to do it in a powerful way.

The questions that arise are always related to prolonging the experience, and not wanting to end:  “Can we do this again?” “How can we stay involved?” “I want Unleashed 2 and now Unleashed 3!!” As I listen to their pleas, my heart sinks and as much as I would like to give them what they want at that moment, I know there is a great life lesson waiting to be learned as we go through closure together.

It is so important in life to know how to say good bye, and to say it in a powerful way. Over a life time, people will graduate, move, head off to college, leave camp, and start new jobs or look for other opportunities.  All of these require gaining closure and being able to move full force ahead. There will be moments over these girls’ lives when they will end relationships that don’t fit, start new ones, fall in and out of love, and even come to terms with more permanent separations caused by illness or death.  No matter what the circumstances, providing the girls with tools to develop effective coping strategies and manage the emotions that surface will be skills they can utilized across the span of their lifetime.

The most important aspect of preparing to leave Unleashed is to share our feelings. As tough as it is to be honest and express them aloud, it is so important in termination.  Secondly, for each team, before leaving they want to celebrate their experience in Unleashed. For example, Unleashed II at the Lab School decided to create a “Top 10 Moments” board which turned into “Top Moments” because there were so many more than ten. As they recalled their memories of “the funniest”, the “hardest”, the “saddest” and “the best, moments” girls hugged one another, snapped in agreement (what teens do when they agree with what is said), high fived and applauded all the moments they experienced together. Other teams make sure they complete a goal, either individually or collectively.  And, there are teams that want to have a celebration of some sort as a closing ceremony, even beyond that of graduation.

I am struck by how each girl, at the end, has the ability to clearly express her feelings and describe her plans for the future.  Often I hear, “I will volunteer at my shelter”, “I want to get involved with another group”, “I want to be on an Unleashed advisory council”.  There is also much discussion about how to stay connected with their team and the coaches.  In fact, the perceived loss of their team as they know it can be painful for the girls, because the sisterhood that develops is very powerful. In preparation for ending, girls and coaches practice a very critical life skill by identifying and expressing emotions and then using these emotions to propel themselves forward to mourn the loss of what has become so important to them.

As Unleashed teams wind down their academic year, I head into summer applying my own words of wisdom that I share with the girls. In doing so, I share the sadness and disappointment of saying good bye to the Spring teams, schools and coaches.  At the same time, I celebrate the success of an unbelievable second year.  A year in which we expanded the number of teams and schools, increased our puppy rescues to 187, and created strong partnerships with other organizations.  As our Board changes and grows we also built strong committees of talented people ready to develop new initiatives and expand our circle of influence. Fall 2012, here we come!

Stacey knew that Belle needed a special home so rather than a pet finder posting, she put out a call to close friends, one of whom referred her to Emmanuel. Funnily enough, Emmanuel had already called another trainer saying he was thinking of adopting a dog from Unleashed. What luck! Rike, the trainer called Stacey immediately and promised to put Belle in her special training program to support the placement with Emmanuel and the match was made. Belle aka Osi is living in Brooklyn with Emmanuel as his constant companion.

Diamond mining is a very intense process. So much goes into finding, and polishing them to the finished product we see when we stroll down Fifth Avenue and peek inside Harry Winston. This process is symbolic of the transformation Unleashed girls experience as they go through the program; which is why “Diamonds in the Ruff” is a perfect title for our anniversary event.

Each Unleashed group is a collection of diverse individuals; each with their own unique style, passion, interests (other than puppies of course), values, strengths and areas of development. Their spirit, energy and willingness to tackle anything to provide helpless pups with a voice is apparent from the onset.

When I look at middle school girls, I see possibility where others might see acting out, emotional, difficult teens. I see the opportunity to channel energy and passion when others might see the inability to stay focused. Girls this age test the waters continuously, push back, and challenge the status quo. This is a very ripe time to give them tools to be social activists; allowing them to be angry about an issue. This is a time to take the behaviors we see during this stage and give them an outlet to express their emotions in an appropriate way.

Why do I have so much passion for this age group? One, they are a misunderstood population. Our society has identified this group as “the mean girls” evidenced by the movies, television shows and many articles I see in the media. It is high time we start focusing on the positive aspects of middle school girls and truly understand the needs of girls at this critical juncture in life.

What I have come to realize is that there is a personal connection attached to this passion of mine. Looking back at my own teen age years, I was definitely a “Diamond in the ‘Ruff”. I was one of those feisty tweens who challenged everything and anything just for the sake of it. Opinionated, defiant, feisty and shirking dependence at all costs was how I could have easily been described by those around me. But, there was one person who looked deep below the surface to see there was so much more there beyond this defiant, rebellious teen. For me it was my father. He looked at me and saw a vivacious, passionate, smart girl who wanted to be unique and have a say in the world. He posed questions like “What will you do with all of this energy?” “What do you want to do in the world?” and validated my spirit by always remarking “You were meant to do something wonderful in your life time.” Rather than become frustrated, he laughed with me about my antics and the tricky situations I got myself into. But as I grew a little older, the words of wisdom become internalized as my own inner voice. I began believing that there was something out there waiting for me that was larger than who I was, and was intrigued by what that could be.

Each of us are a “Diamond in the Ruff” at some point in life. Development is our “mining” process, enabling us to shape who we are, polish the rough spots and define ourselves. We all start off with untapped resources and qualities that may not be so obvious to ourselves and others. Yet, when someone invests in us, the results are remarkable. This is my philosophy as I engage with all of our Unleashed teams. My commitment to each girl is to provide them with the freedom to explore and experiment, without judgment, in order for them to shine brilliantly-like a diamond. What sets the Unleashed girl apart is that she is priceless!