Rhonda Walker Foundation Celebrates 20 Years
The Rhonda Walker Foundation has awarded over $500,000 in scholarships to Detroit girls since 2003.
By Kiara Davis
This year, the Rhonda Walker Foundation gave away $55,000 in scholarships to Detroit teen girls in its graduating class. Now celebrating its 20th anniversary, the foundation has awarded over $500,000 in scholarships to inner city youth.
News anchor Rhonda Walker at her foundation’s 20th anniversary celebration in February 2023. Photo by Robin Gamble
Local 4 News anchor Rhonda Walker started the foundation in 2003 to help girls in 8th through 12th grade with personal development and community outreach.
Six months after starting her career at WDIV-TV, Walker began visiting middle schools to talk to teen girls about making good choices, leadership skills, confidence and more. Visiting the schools and talking to the students gave Walker the idea of starting her own foundation.
“I founded this program because I wanted to empower and impact the lives of teen girls in Detroit — kids that are promising but may not have the resources or the support in order to truly live strong, happy empowered lives,” Walker says.
The foundation’s five-year Girls into Women education, career and personal development, mentoring and college prep programming has resulted in 100% high school graduation and college enrollment rates among the teen girls that complete the program, WDIV’s website states.
“Education is essential to me, and 100% of the teens in this program go on to college, which says a lot about the program and the preparation provided,” says Rhonda Walker Foundation coordinator Jacalyn Shelton Wallace.
Rhonda Walker Foundation Sip and Shop event. Photo by Robin Gamble
The foundation provides tutoring free of charge for students that may struggle with certain subjects. An essay writing boot camp is also held for 11th grade students. The program helps teens write their college essays and go into their senior year stress free. ACT and SAT classes are held year-round to help students improve their strategies when taking the standardized tests.
The foundation also offers many personal development activities designed to help 8th graders face their fears. These include a three-day weekend where the teens are challenged to not say no before trying something and to never give up. The camp offers high ropes, low ropes, archery, glow-in-the-dark ziplining and so much more. The girls that participate leave feeling confident and fearless.
Rhonda Walker Foundation Christmas Cares Party. Photo by Robin Gamble
Rhonda Walker Foundation Christmas Cares Party. Photo by Robin Gamble
During the holidays, the Rhonda Walker Foundation hosts an annual Christmas party benefiting the families at Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries Genesis House. The teens are assigned to different stations: making plates for all the families to have a nice meal to enjoy, doing arts and crafts with kids, escorting kids to take pictures with Santa Claus and helping the kids open gifts.
For many of the participants, the foundation is not just a program but a family.
For information on getting involved with the foundation, becoming a mentor, volunteering or making donations, visit rhondawalkerfoundation.org.
