Safety Seeking Program to Help Underserved Adolescent Girls in Buffalo

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — No Wound Untreatment Inc. created a safety-seeking program to help teenage girls deal with their emotional wounds.

Deonne Wedlinton, 15, is one of many teenagers on Buffalo’s East Side who have experienced trauma.

“Being a girl is hard, especially when you get bullied, because it makes you look at your facial features and body differently,” she says. “Not just the bullying that you know with boys, being mixed in with the wrong crowd and it’s very easy to fall.”

No Wound Untreatment Inc. founder Felicia Stanley says her goal is to help teens on the East Side.

“This is my life’s work, what else would I do?” My goal is to serve, give back and help these little young girls,” she says. “These young girls will be women one day and they will enter the workforce in the community and I feel like all I can do is equip a young person the best they can.”

Counselors like Jakari Washington told 7 News reporter Yoselin Person that they can relate to these high school students who come to the Delavan Grider Community Center for free therapy.

“I was born and raised on the East Side Buffalo, so I definitely have experiences that are similar to them, so I can definitely say that I can definitely relate,” Jakari said. “You know, you have to grow up early and face real challenges, so I understand.”

Deonne says having this kind of program for teenage girls like her is comforting.

“It’s a positive impact just because a lot of girls my age don’t feel like they have anyone to talk to,” she says. “So to be able to have that for ourselves without being judged and without help, it feels really good.”

You can find this program inside the Delavan Grider Community Center on Wednesdays from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.