Manatee PACE girls tell luncheon crowd: ‘Believe in me’

A blonde teenager named Coral walked confidently onto the Renaissance on 9th stage Thursday and told her life story to a capacity crowd at the 2016 Believing in Girls Luncheon hosted by PACE Center for Girls in Manatee County.

When she was done, about 15 minutes later, audience members sprang to their feet and gave her a prolonged standing ovation.

The luncheon was a fundraiser for PACE so the organization can continue to serve Manatee County girls ages 11 to 18 who need a little something more than what public schools can provide.

But it seemed with the intensity of the applause from the crowd of 312 that anyone who was going to swipe a plastic card or put pen to check needed no more urging.

Coral’s story was cringe-worthy at first, then uplifting.

At age 13, Coral, whose full name is kept private by the school, was hiding bottles of alcohol in her bedroom. By the time she got into Manatee High School, she said she was using Xanax and partying hard. She was skipping school and sneaking home through her bedroom window.

“I was doing a lot of stupid stuff, and my guidance counselor suggested PACE,” Coral said. “I said, ‘Oh, hell no, I am never going there.’”

The crowd, filled with PACE former and current students and supporters, laughed.

When she relented and met with a PACE guidance counselor, she was aghast when the woman said, “No cell phones.”

“No cell phones,” Coral reacted in horror. “Not gonna do it!”

But Coral said she was tired and never happy. She decided to give PACE a chance.

The same guidance counselor told Coral that if she ever needed to talk, even if it was just a bad day, her door would be open for her.

“She told me, ‘Whatever you need, baby girl,’” Coral said with emphasis, as if that caring phrase had sunk deeply into her soul.

“I thought to myself, ‘A bad day and I could go to talk to someone about it?’” Coral told the crowd.

Finally, once enrolled, Coral decided to tell the counselor about her alcohol problem. PACE officials got Coral into an addiction treatment program.

Not only did Coral get through treatment, but other family members who also had addiction problems committed to getting help, Coral said.

“My whole world has changed now,” Coral said.

Her relationship with her mother has changed.

“We talk now, we really talk, we don’t manipulate each other,” Coral said. “I’ve gone to school now for weeks at a time, not just days.”

But not drinking means Coral has to deal with her emotions every day.

“I’m still learning,” she said. “But I am proud to be sober and of everything I have done to overcome. I don’t even want to think about where I would be today if I had not come to PACE.”

Now, things are really “creepy weird” for Coral because she is thinking, for the first time in her life, about things like — a career, the future, a happy fulfilled life.

It wasn’t until she walked from behind the dais that people could read her purple T-shirt with its bright red heart in the middle. It said, “Believe in Me!”

EVERY PACE GIRL DECIDES ON HER OWN

Every girl who goes to PACE must make the decision to go there on her own, said PACE Executive Director Amy Wick Mavis said about an hour before Coral went on stage.

“This room is filled with people who have come to show their support for PACE,” Mavis said. “What’s cool is that we also have 40 current and former PACE girls who are sitting at each of the 39 tables to share why PACE is important to them.”

PACE started in 1985 in Jacksonville and came to Manatee in 1989. The school currently has 56 girls enrolled.

“Our goal is to provide services to girls who have been typically non-successful in the public school system,” Mavis said. “So we work with each girl and her family to make sure she has the tools to be successful in life.”

Donations of any amount, which will buy books for PACE girls and help with other academic needs, can be sent to PACE Center for Girls, 3508 26th St. W., Bradenton. Information: 941-751-4566.

This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Manatee PACE girls tell luncheon crowd: ‘Believe in me’."