A Mission to empower

The Nartey Sports Foundation is committed to supporting innovative ways to use sports and organized physical activity to touch the lives of those with the greatest need.  We know that sports has the capacity to empower young people by addressing psychological and emotional vulnerabilities.  Training the body and the mind creates strength and resilience.

This year, we are pleased to support The Swan Within.  Through ballet, The Swan Within is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering incarcerated teen girls who have been involved in the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), sexual abuse, and physical abuse.

The program uses the sport and art of ballet to heal the wounds from trauma by giving the basic foundations of grace. Research emphasizes the importance of including the physical body in trauma treatment, to decrease physical and mental immobility common in young victims.

Swan Within Founder, Meredith Harper, teaches girls at Central Juvenile Hall facility with a focus on classical ballet technique, ballet etiquette, and therapeutic Circle Time, the culmination of this project included working with a local business to provide leotards and ballet shoes for a final recital which was viewed by 30 people.  The Swan Within is also serving girls at the Barry J. Nidorf Juvenille Hall in Sylmar, California.

Healing through ballet.   Through The Swan Within program, sexually exploited girls are given the opportunity to reclaim ownership of their bodies through the physical training in classical ballet technique.