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Baltimore, Maryland
2007
Life was a struggle for Paige Fitz, growing up in Sandtown. Her father overdosed when she was nine. Her mother had turned around her life and supported her children as a drug counselor. Yet, addiction had taken its toll, and just two years later, her mother died too. "For a long time, I was so mad at God," says Fitz, now 30. "I could not believe he took both of them." As a teenager, she always prayed to have a child. "Something had been taken away from me, and I just needed something to love," she says. A single mom, Fitz had her first daughter when she was 20 and a second five years ago.
But with her second daughter, Fitz also had an epiphany after someone counseled her about her direction in life. "Before that, I never had someone take the time to talk to me about what was lacking inside me," she said. The person told her how much God loved her and helped her find inner strength. "That changed my whole world around," said Fitz, who earned an associate’s degree in accounting and is working on her bachelor’s at Morgan State University. "I finally had love for myself, but it took someone else to pull that out of me."
In turn, Fitz wants to help young women in Sandtown who face the same challenges she once did. She is using her fellowship to support GEMS—Finding Jewels in Youth, an effort she started in May 2006 to help young women ages 13 to 25 find their own self-worth. GEMS meets weekly and provides one-on-one mentoring, activities and workshops. Fitz always asks the young women their goals. One young woman said she wanted to finish high school because no one in her family ever had. Fitz and the GEMS girls helped her learn how to believe in herself. "And this past June, all of us went to her graduation!" says Fitz, who works as an accountant. That young woman, the mother of a two-year-old, now is registered for college and applying to become a correctional officer. "I think it just takes someone taking the time to say, 'Hey, I love you today,'" says Fitz.
