INDIANAPOLIS — Inside New Revelation Church on the northeast side, on the second floor, girls of all ages are surrounded by mentors of the Inner Beauty program.
"I needed this, I needed people in my life, I needed mentors," Chrystal Hines, Inner Beauty's Founder & CEO, said.
In one room, girls are painting on canvasses. Next door, a younger group of girls are playing Uno and others are coloring. They have smiles on their faces as music plays in the background.
WRTV visited on a day when students were taking part in Inner Beauty's winter break camp. The program provided a safe place for them during the day.
Inner Beauty moved into their location at New Revelation Church off Oaklandon Road just over a year ago. Prior to this, they were based in the Speedway area.
The organization serves girls across Marion County, but many are located on the east side.
"Being in this space has allowed us to offer programming every day to a set group of kids who we pick up in the area, and we bring to our building every day," Hines said. "They have snack, they have dinner, they engage in positive programming with positive female role models, they do their homework, and they study here."
Hines started the Inner Beauty Program in 2002 with the first Inner Beauty Pageant. It's a tradition that continues to this day, but now her organization offers so much more to girls across the city year round.
"I like to say that we are a somewhat of a full service salon for all things for the inner makeover," Hines said.
"I'm learning how to do stuff, how to become a young lady, and learn how to carry myself. So, it's very helpful," 14-year-old Lynnen Jacks said.
Hines and her team provide services like counseling, mentoring and tutoring. They partner with the Department of Child Services and juvenile probation. Others girls they help are referred from local schools.
"I was getting in a lot of trouble at school. I was getting suspended, getting into fights, and being disrespectful to the teachers," Mekenzie Hughes said.
Inner beauty is now focused on making a bigger impact.
"We have siblings of youth who were on probation that said, 'Oh, if I get in trouble, I can be an Inner Beauty.' We don't want that. We don't want you to get in trouble, we just want you to come," Hines said.
The program is now able to serve more girls after being awarded crime prevention funding from the latest round of the Elevation Grant Program.
The program aims to address the root causes of violence by awarding grants to organizations using violence reduction programming.
"We have to wrap our hands around the girls, just like we do the boys, because they're suffering too. There's some of them that are out here, and they're committing the crimes. So, we'd like to stop that," Hines said.
The grant funding supports Inner Beauty's programming, transportation, space and food.
It allows the organization to provide more opportunities for the girls they serve.
"We want to give them a home base and we want to give them a feeling of I have something to look forward to every day," Hines said.
