NATOMAS, CA (November 16, 2007) \u2013 Every Monday night, Cortnie Bain meets for an hour at the local Barnes & Noble bookstore with a group of teenage girls, helping turn a collection of strangers into close friends who discuss the most intimate details of their lives and share \u201cpink wisdom\u201d together.<\/p>\n
The group is an outgrowth of Pinkwisdom.net, a website Bain started to provide resources and information to help teenaged girls deal with a difficult and confusing time of life. The site provides links on issues such as cutting, eating disorders, setting goals, gossip, and dating. It also features interviews with successful women, on how they navigate the difficulties of growing up. As the website puts it: \u201cLife is hard and you don\u2019t have to get through it alone!\u201d<\/p>\n
Bain, whose husband, Eric, is pastor of Sanctuary Covenant Church, in Sacramento, California, says that after starting the website, she wanted to do more. So in August, she organized the PINKWISDOM support group. The group\u2019s mission statement is, \u201cTo protect, encourage and understand the young women of today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although the group is small\u2014with a regular attendance of five\u2014it has been important in the lives of the girls, who are from different ethnic backgrounds. One of the girls has stopped cutting herself thanks in part to the support she has received, Bain says. None of the girls knew each other before the PINKWISDOM meetings stared.<\/p>\n
As part of the meeting, the girls read and discuss books. They currently are discussing “Go Ask Alice,” a book about drug abuse originally published in 1971 but which still is relevant for today, Bain says. \u201cWe don\u2019t discuss the details of the book,\u201d Bain says. \u201cWe discuss the issues it raises and how it makes the girls feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The girls also discuss issues they are dealing with. Bain provides a listening ear, but is clear that she is not a counselor. \u201cThey help each other. They have a group they can rely on,\u201d she says.
\nThe girls are sure to arrive promptly for the 7 p.m. start of the group. \u201cThey really want to be here,\u201d Bain says. \u201cI\u2019m just so proud of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bain adds the group is not meant to be a direct form of evangelism. \u201cEvery girl knows I\u2019m a pastor\u2019s wife and I talk about who I am, but that doesn\u2019t scare them off,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Bain says she had not originally intended to meet at the bookstore. She had placed flyers around town that encouraged anyone interested in meeting to call her. The manager at Barnes & Noble saw the flyers and invited her to meet at the store.<\/p>\n
Bain was surprised by an additional benefit of the group. The parents meet in the store\u2019s coffee shop and are getting to know one another and discuss raising teenage girls.<\/p>\n
In December, Bain will launch PINKWISDOM Preteen, a group for girls ages 10-14.<\/p>\n