Gold Award Spotlight: Barrett Boutique

Dana, a Girl Scout Ambassador from Virginia Beach, has earned the Girl Scout Gold Award, the highest honor and achievement a girl can earn in Girl Scouting.

For her project, Dana worked at the Barrett Haven Transitional Home, a shelter in Norfolk, to transform an outdoor storage room into a clothing boutique for residents. The Barrett House often receives clothing donations from department stores and other organizations, but there was no place to properly store them. When women needed an outfit for a job interview or work, they would have to go through boxes and bags to find something appropriate to wear.

To transform the outdoor storage room, Dana put a fresh coat of paint on the walls, replaced the flooring and added shelving units and closet rods. Then, she organized the donated clothing, shoes and handbags so that women staying at Barrett Haven could have a boutique shopping experience when they needed something to wear. With a new organization system in place, residents and staff will be able to sort new donations and restock the racks in the boutique as needed.

“I wanted to give the women at Barrett Haven a place where they could feel good about picking out clothes for work and interviews instead of having to dig through boxes and bags,” Dana said. “Through my project, I hoped to boost the women’s self-esteem and build their confidence.”

Dana hosted a grand opening for her boutique, during which she even had a hairstylist donate her services to makeover the women at Barrett Haven.

The Gold Award requires girls to identify an issue in their community and carry out a Take Action project to address the matter through leadership work. Nationwide, less than 6 percent of eligible Girl Scouts earn the Gold Award, which adds Dana to an elite group of female leaders across the country with the honor.