Women’s History Month Activities Inspire, Empower, and Educate Youth

April 24, 2025

In March, Mercy Home for Boys & Girls hosted events and celebrations in honor of Women’s History Month. 

On our Walsh Girls Campus, coworkers Jenae Vaughn, Maya Morris, and Lupe Carey helped organize a career fair that reflected the diverse backgrounds of the young people whom Mercy Home serves. Seeing successful professionals who look like they do helps our young people envision themselves in similar roles in the future and encourages them to strive to reach their own potential. So, when several female professionals from around the Chicago area brought posters and samples of their work to the career fair, our young women eagerly asked questions and took notes. 

Sydney Zenon, a celebrity makeup artist, came to Mercy Home along with her friend to share their professional journeys. Zenon said that she has been in the business for 10 years. She detailed her own career experiences and offered insights to our young women about how they could build successful careers by following their passions. 

“The main thing that I want them to take away is that you have to find something that you love to start and then you can perfect it later,” Zenon said. “It’s about putting a dream out there and going after it.”

Zenon also raffled off makeup kits and showcased some of her work with celebrities such as singer, songwriter, and actress Coco Jones and rapper Yung Miami. 

“My favorite part was meeting the girls and being able to connect with them,” Zenon said. I’ve really seen my younger self in them. [I’m glad] I produced a product that they resonate and connect with. A couple of the girls have left and came back to the table and that makes me feel like we’re doing something right.”

Keli Change, a greeting card designer, heard about Mercy Home from her neighbor who suggested that she present at the career fair. Founder and creative director of PärdēPress, Change is dedicated to helping others find the joy in celebrating all the events in their lives. 

“The whole purpose of my business is to remind women that there is more to celebrate than just when we get married and have children,” Change said.

Growing up, Change said that she has always loved greeting cards. Now, she has been in business for four years and her cards are featured in gift shops across the country. 

“I’m hoping that the girls realize that they can take something that is a passion of theirs and make it a business,” Change said. “There’s so many possibilities of businesses and it just starts with you. 

The event also featured presentations from Roberta May from RMBeauty Glam and Taylor Musgrove, an Emmy Award winning producer at ABC7 Chicago. 

“I really liked the ABC Channel 7 station,” Melody, one of our young people, said. “I’m thinking about maybe doing that.”

Another girl, Simone, said that she wants to be a biochemist or lawyer.

“I liked learning about what it takes to do different careers and what their days look like,” Simone said.

Eboni Wilson, a post-secondary options and career resources coordinator at Mercy Home, welcomed the girls to the event as they arrived. Wilson, who operates a baking business in her spare time, had the girls design cupcakes to show that their hobbies can become part of their professions.

At our West Loop Campus, our youth participated in an event called “Respecting Women & Ourselves,” which was an interactive workshop held by the Imagination Theatre Company. The young people watched skits based on various real-life scenarios, including those surrounding consent, managing anger and frustration in relationships, and handling break-ups in a healthy way. They were also able to participate in role-playing different scenarios to practice healthy responses to difficult situations.

“I’ve worked with [Imagination Theatre] prior for anti-bullying workshops, and they’re really good at making things digestible, very relatable, and interactive with the youth,” Veronica Quintero, senior coordinator of tutoring and after-school programs, said. “For Women’s History Month … I really wanted to cover some of the scenarios that they may run into [in both dating and friendships with young women] and be proactive about healthy relationships and respecting women. I wanted to send a message that we as a community at Mercy Home really reinforce that women are to be respected.”

Quintero noted that a lot of our youth have a difficult time with break-ups because they become intensely invested in their partners. This can lead to them struggling with accepting the end of the relationship. Quintero wanted them to have the opportunity to learn and practice appropriate responses during a break-up. 

The youth also learned that while showing frustration and anger in a relationship is normal, there are healthy and safe ways to do so. Volunteers were given the chance to act out scenarios where they express anger to a partner in a positive way. 

“I want [the youth] to be successful and set up for success in relationships,” Quintero said. “It’s healthy for them to want to be dating in middle school and high school and we want to give them the tools they need.”

Many of the young people volunteered to participate in the role-playing activities and gave great suggestions for healthy ways to handle different situations. Quintero said she was thrilled with how many youth from all different programs were willing to be vulnerable and participate.

One skit gave a young man the chance to respond to a friend’s negative self-talk in both a positive and negative way. Another allowed a youth to practice confronting a friend who was catcalling a woman on the street. Other youth were able to give suggestions from the audience for different ways to handle the situation. All of the youth were engaged and left the workshop with strategies to help them build better relationships with everyone in their lives.

“My main concern was that [the youth left the workshop] being a safe person in a relationship while still honoring themselves,” Quintero said.

Following the event, the youth went to the cafeteria for a delicious dinner and a fun Women’s History Month trivia game.