Susan Titus, founder of the Confidence Campaign, introduced the organization and its upcoming partnership with GCI to the Iberia Parish Kiwanis Club Thursday at noon.

The Confidence campaign is partnering with GCI Lafayette Women’s Forum to bring the EmpowerHER event. The event will provide Science Technology Engineering and Math education workshops for middle school girls across the region in addition to promoting healthy hygiene habits. The event is March 16, 2024 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and spots are limited. Registration was set to end Feb. 16, 2024, however, the organization chose to extend it until they fill all additional spots.

Titus founded the Confidence Campaigns with the primary objectives of providing girls as young as eight-years-old with education opportunities to support the development of healthy hygiene habits and empowering these girls to build confidence as they age. To achieve this, Titus provides a workshop called If You Know You Know (IYKYK) and several programs which discuss the importance of good hygiene, and the best ways to practice it.

Through her workshops, Titus said she found a distinct lack of conversation around hygiene in the home. As kids age, their lives pick up pace, and they start experiencing bodily changes, often at the same time. So many young girls struggle to manage their hygiene as a result. Without adequate direction, they may never develop the hygiene habits necessary to cope with these changes. To understand why there is a lack of communication, Titus examined where the breakdown occurs between parents and children.

“They’re just not talking. They’re so disconnected. If you go to a restaurant and you see these little families at a table, you can see the whole family on a phone or an iPad. There’s no conversation going on. If that’s happening at a restaurant, imagine how disconnected they are when they’re at home,” Titus said.

Titus focuses on several aspects of hygiene, including proper oral care, facial care, effective use of deodorant and antiperspirants, the difference between the two and how to properly utilize feminine hygiene products. She utilizes methods that connect the kids with what she’s discussing so they may ultimately take the information to heart.

“So when I talk about bacteria, they’re like, ‘we know what bacteria is, it makes us sick,’ but do you know what it does? So bacteria does exactly what we do, it eats and it poops, and they are like, ‘ahhhhh, what no,’ so you make it apply to them and they remember that,” Titus said.

Additionally, she encourages the kids to treat each other with kindness and compassion and to understand that some families have less access to resources than others, so they might struggle with personal hygiene.

“In a way, we want to put everybody on an even keel. We want to encourage kindness, but we also want to give them an understanding that people have different resources so they can be prepared for their friends,” Titus said.

The Confidence Campaign partners with several organizations around Acadiana and the Teche area including the Junior League of Lafayette and the New Iberia Boys and Girls Clubs. The campaign provides kids at these organizations with a month’s worth of menstrual products, emergency kits, at-home hygiene products and a resource book to educate their families on effective hygiene.

“We want these girls to be comfortable and aware enough with themselves and about what’s going on to be aware of their own bodies. So if something is off, they can be comfortable to speak to their parents about it and avoid possible misinformation from their peers,” Titus said.

Susan grew up in Franklin and New Iberia, where she developed a passion for helping rural communities throughout Louisiana. She believes that the campaign can effectively get into rural communities where resources are limited and can expose the children to opportunities and options. She originally attended Our Lady of the Lake College in Baton Rouge with the goal of becoming a Physicians Assistant, however an unexpected pregnancy ended this route early. From there, she became involved with several single-mother and teen-mother programs.

“I’ve always wanted to become an advocate in some way for women, for girls, that’s always been a passion. When I work with face painting, I still see these little ones that are not being fed into. They aren’t receiving any type of confidence building; they’re not being told how fantastic they are; they’re not being told how smart they are or that they can do hard things; all these different things we need to be doing to encourage our children to understand their worth,” Titus said.

Currently, the organization is working with the Louisiana Department of Health to enter the public school system to meet children where they are. It is often difficult for parents to bring their children to after-school programs.

They have several programs to engage girls of different ages, including an interactive storytelling program called Keeping Hygiene Fun for ages four to seven, a bra-fitting and giveaway program called Bras Really Accessible (BRA) and a hygiene closet to provide items for girls who attended the IYKYK Workshop.

‘We need support, we need to make sure that we are feeling good and that our clothes fit well. And if we can do that at a young age, then we can create confidence forever,” Titus said.

To register for the EmpowerHER event or to donate to the organization, visit www.Theconfidencecampaign.org or send an email to Theconfidencecampaign@gmail.com.