Pace Center Helps Girls
Sally Zeh, PACE Executive Director, talks about the PACE Center for Girls, helping girls, age 11 to 18, to overcome negatives in their lives, and to become better citizens, through counseling, education, training and offering personal guidance for each. PACE Center for Girls is a Pinellas County service to help 11 to 18 year old girls overcome many personal problems, so they may have a better future., These are girls or young women who have been victimized or identified as being runaways, truant, falling behind in school, victims of drug or substance abuse or lacking in acceptable social skills. Rotarian Richard Green, Attorney, introduced Sally Zeh, Executive Director of PACE Center for Girls, at a recent Wednesday noon meeting of the Rotary Club of Clearwater, at the Belleair Country Club. Zeh said the Mission of PACE states that "PACE provides girls and young women an opportunity for a better future through education, counseling, training and advocacy." PACE uses the service of many local agencies, to help turn the young women away from negatives in their lives, encourage them to learn about developing better personal skills, to help them prepare for a better, successful future life. Zeh stated that it is unfortunate that girls are the fastest growing segment of the juvenile justice system. One in three referrals is a girl. The average PACE girl is 15 years old, comes from a single parent family, has a history of abuse and\or of being abused, and may have a mental health diagnosis. Zeh said that PACE provides Counseling, help for individual problems, while enabling young women to complete their education. They offer help in guiding the girls to make better personal choices and teach them how to avoid being victimized. PACE is considered a national model for successful addressing of girls special needs. PACE welcomes visitors, offers tours and can be reached at pacecenter.org, or at 727-456-1566.
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