After School Programs
Many girls enter adolescence without the knowledge or support they need to understand and care for their changing bodies. Taboos, cultural gaps, and inadequate school curricula can lead to confusion, shame, and long-term impacts on emotional, mental, and physical wellbeing. This is why we prioritize our funding resources to offer free programs to indigenous, refugee and low income youth in our greater community.
Confederate Salish and Kootenai School Programs
Our CSKT Youth Program provides free, culturally responsive hormonal literacy education for adolescent girls in Lake County, Montana, within the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal area. Each semester, we offer after-school and summer programs that blend modern hormonal health education with Indigenous plant knowledge and ancestral wellness traditions. Small cohorts foster individualized learning, peer bonding, and open participation. Students learn through hands-on experiences such as plant harvesting, art-making, reflection, and movement, all designed to build confidence, leadership, and connection.
The program begins with a parent orientation session and continues weekly with a nature-based curriculum. Native plant experts share knowledge about foods and medicines that support hormonal health. Cultural rites of passage and ancestral traditions are woven throughout the curriculum. Each semester culminates in a community gathering and smoked-meat night honoring nutrient-rich foods and Tribal teachings.
Soft Landing After School Program
Since 2022, we have been an essential collaborator with Soft Landing Girls Leadership Council in supporting their goal to empower young refugee and immigrant girls by facilitating sessions that foster cross-cultural connections and personal growth through transformative workshops and programs. Soft Landing is a community-based nonprofit committed to working with refugee and immigrant families as they build new lives in Missoula. EWG currently partners with Soft Landing as guest instructors to offer two-hour program sessions one to two times monthly as part of their ongoing Girls Youth Leadership Program. Through this program, we work with high school girls during the school year and middle school girls during the summer. The Soft Landing program serves approximately 45 girls annually. This partnership has played a pivotal role in providing vital support for conducting sessions that nurture self-awareness, confidence, and resilience.
Natalia Boise, Soft Landing Youth Program Coordinator, best sums up why we need to continue this vital work within our Indigenous and refugee communities:
“It's clear that the health and well-being of our participants are very important. Adolescent girls, particularly from refugee and immigrant backgrounds, face numerous health risks and challenges, often exacerbated by societal taboos and cultural restrictions. By promoting positive body image, cyclical awareness, and holistic approaches to maintaining hormonal balance and wellness, EWG empowers girls to navigate the complexities of adolescence with confidence and resilience, contributing directly to our participants' overall well-being. By providing girls with the tools and resources they need to support their physical, social, and emotional wellness, we are not only fostering positive outcomes but also empowering them to become leaders in their communities.”