To all the women who struggled in their younger years, what would have actually helped you?
This is a long winded post so bear with me please 🥺
I’m working on a project focused on supporting girls and young women (roughly ages 10-25) who may be struggling with things like bullying, loneliness, family issues, homelessness, financial hardship, body image struggles, mental health challenges, lack of guidance, or simply feeling like they have no trusted adult to turn to.
I’d love to hear from women who have been through any difficult periods your lives whether it’s what I named or maybe something else, could be a combination.
Looking back, what was the hardest challenge you faced between ages 10-25?
What kind of support did you need most during that time?
Did you have a trusted adult, mentor, teacher, counselor, relative, or friend who helped you? If so, what made them helpful? If you didn’t have support, what do you wish had existed for you?
Were there resources that would have made a meaningful difference (therapy, housing help, financial guidance, job assistance, transportation, life-skills education, etc.)?
What is something you struggled to figure out on your own that you wish someone had taught you or maybe something you wish you could go back and tell yourself?
If you experienced a crisis, what was the biggest obstacle to getting help?
What would have made you feel less alone?
If you could go back and speak to your younger self during your hardest moment, what would you say?
If a young girl or woman were facing the same challenges you faced, what advice would you give her today?
Thank you to anyone willing to share. My goal is to better understand what women truly needed during difficult periods of their lives so future support systems can be built around those real needs.
This is a passion project for me and I have some real world experience in all of these issues and I’m looking for women who wouldn’t mind sharing with me. If you’re uncomfortable answering all the questions that’s perfectly fine you can answer as many or as little as you’d like or you can add anything else. This is a safe post and I wasn’t sure where to post this so I decided on this subreddit. Thank you so much ❤️