Our mission is to create a collaboration between women of Knox college and high school aged women in the Galesburg community. We aim to begin a discussion of social issues that affect the Galesburg community and develop social change projects that target those issues. Through this collaborative effort we hope to foster personal and communal growth through peer mentoring, and to empower women to affect change within their community.
This blog is the first, public step in reaching out to Knox County’s young women. We want to hear from you. Your comments and suggestions. The issues that matter to you, and how you believe things in Knox County can be changed.
Things need to be changed.
Knox County is of 4 counties in IL that earned the highest possible score on the poverty warning list.
Knox County has a 21.3% child poverty rate.
Galesburg’s HS graduation rates are 83.9%, lower than the state average.
Galesburg’s teen pregnancy rate climbed from 11.4% in 2007 to 14.7% in 2008.
Knox County has the second highest Gonorrhea and Chlamydia rates in Illinois for the
ages 10-19.Approximately one third of students have been in a vehicle that has had drugs or alcohol.
By eigth grade, 17% of students have used illegal painkillers.
Be The Change hopes to begin to address these important issues through work with Knox County’s young women. Knox County’s young women are more than statics.
If you have any feedback or ideas, please leave us a comment or send us an email.
