Grandma’s Hands is a special community celebration which nominates and honors black women who are elders in the African American community for their dedication, love, and support of young people and families.
YEWAS is mentorship and youth development program for girls ages 9-18 founded in Oakland. The emphasis of the program is to help girls develop a strong sense of self, sisterhood, cultural and social awareness, spirituality, leadership, self-esteem, academic success, healthy and wise decision-making skills by providing mentorship and tools to support their growth and development.
Our goal is to teach youth to acknowledge and honor our positive community elders while they are still in our midst as opposed to waiting until our beloved grandmothers, grandfathers, teachers or leaders who have impacted our lives have deceased. Grandma’s Hands has been planned and will be hosted by the girls in our program.
Last year we honored 16 Grandmothers! This year thirteen grandmothers and elders have been nominated by their families or other community members to receive recognition on this day.
Please join (YEWAS) Young Empowered Woman Achieving Self Rites of Passage Program for Girls of African Descent and Sisters of Tomorrow in paying tribute to our 14 nominees.
MS. RENEE JONES-ABDULLAH
MS. CAROLYN WILLIGHAM
IYA WANDA RAVERNELL
MS. PAT GREEN
MS. BETTY J. CARR
MS. DENISE ROBINSON
MS. TOREADAH MIKELL
MS. ZARINA AHMAD
MS. JOYCE OWENS
MOTHER GEORGIA BROWN
MS. TREINA ALEXANDER
MS. PAT BROWN
MS. CLARE CHASE-TANNER
MAMA GAIL MEADOWS