Meet Dimanche Brewer of Charm School International in Fort Worth

Today we’d like to introduce you to Dimanche Brewer.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Dimanche. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I’ve always known that I wanted to travel the world and that I wanted to start a mentoring program for young ladies in my community. After graduating from college, I had done some volunteering for other organizations but opted to start my own program in 2013 when I realized there was no other organization offering mentoring with a cultural and historical emphasis. I initially started Charm School International as an etiquette program, but it has evolved into an immersive cultural experience where I get to work with students and take them abroad in the summer. I know the impact traveling has had on my life and I knew the exposure to various cultures and countries could be life-changing for girls in the area I was raised in. There’s so much to gain from traveling at any age, but I love being able to see my high school mentees try new foods, new dances, listen to new genres of music and more.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Starting Charm School International has had some challenges. It took a while to find board members who were passionate about our cause and executing it specifically the way that we do. Volunteers can be hard to come by, so it has limited how many kids we can work with. Funding has been challenging to secure as I’ve learned that some don’t see the value in using culture and travel as a means of teaching life skills. They believe the money could be used differently than going abroad, as it is quite pricey per student to travel for 4-5 days. I’m still constantly on the hunt for supporters of our mission who are willing to contribute and allow us to provide the mentoring throughout the school year as well as embark on the cultural immersion experience abroad each summer. We’ve gained support and have now successfully completed three mentee immersion trips abroad to Belize City, Belize; Toronto, Canada, and Panama City, Panama since 2017.

So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Charm School International story. Tell us more about it.
The mission with Charm School International is to empower disadvantaged students through a cultural exchange to become leaders. We help students from socioeconomically disadvantaged areas acquire multicultural competency by exposing them to enriching opportunities outside of the confines of their neighborhood through culture-intensive activity. The students participate in one group mentoring meeting a month as well as a 1 on 1 meeting with their individual mentor. All of the lessons throughout the school year culminate into a cultural immersion experience abroad in the summer.

Our program is different than many others that offer this type of program because our is no cost to the students that participate. Similar programs require that the families cover 25%-50% of the cost to go abroad, but our organization raises the funds to covers all flights, accommodations, ground transportation, excursions, meals and travel insurance for each student.

We are really proud of the fact that we’re a small, grassroots organization that has found a way to provide trajectory-changing experiences for deserving youth.

Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I believe that I was dealt a great hand from day one. My parents are from Liberia and I know that my life would be drastically different if I was born in Liberia instead of the states. I also know that my West African upbringing and toggling between American and Liberian culture as a child made me more aware of people’s differences and similarities in school. That vantage point of how I saw people then is what instilled in me a curiosity and desire to want to travel the world and learn more about different cultures and groups of people, and I always felt its a blessing to want to embrace people’s differences. I was also lucky to have hard-working parents who instilled a great deal of their work ethic in me and have always reinforced the idea that I can have anything I’m willing to work for. I carry this mantra into all of the work I do with my students as well as all of my community advocacy and volunteering.

Pricing:

• Average cost of one local, cultural immersion experience for one student – $25
• Passport for a student under 16- $115
• Passport for a student 16 and older- $145
• One month of mentoring and local cultural immersion for 5 students- $300
• 4 Weeks (one per week) of local cultural immersion experiences for 15 elementary or middle school students- $1,000
• Cost of fully sponsoring one student to go abroad in the summer- $2,000

Contact Info:

• Website: www.charmschoolintl.org
• Phone: 817-729-1300
• Email: dimanche@charmschoolintl.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/charmschoolintl/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CharmSchoolIntl/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/charmschoolintl

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