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We seek to revive the idea that it takes a village to raise a strong village.
We're The P.O.W.H.E.R. Group
We're here to empower people to activate their full potential to realize the life they were designed to live through self-empowerment, career guidance, and professional development support.
Our Communal Approach
We believe in the power of community.
Our organization connects with respected leaders, community advocates, and proven professionals to ignite change regardless of race, color, religion (creed), gender, gender expression, age, national origin (ancestry), or disability.
We Aim To Serve Our Clients With These Values in Mind
empowerment
Encouraging others to be more aware and confident in their own abilities.
commitment
Committing to providing stellar services, client support, and doing what is in the organization’s best interest.
Diversity
Valuing the diversity of experience, culture, and ideas of others
balance
Taking a proactive stand to promote and create a healthy work-life balance
Community
Contributing positively to the local community and society by demonstrating social responsibility.
innovation
Pursuing new creative ideas that will benefit our clients and the organization’s mission and vision.
integrity
Acting with honesty and honor without compromising the truth.
accountability
Acknowledging and assuming responsibility for actions, products, decisions, and policies.
Hi! I'm Trinka. Here's My Story...
Where it All Began
I am the daughter of a single mother who grew up with four siblings in a southern rural farming community. My days were filled with everything from playing with my siblings, talking to the community elders, hanging out with my family, being alone, and of course, going to school.
Education is one area where I excelled which is why I loved school! During my formative years, people still believed that it took a village to raise a child. Everyone from the principal, teachers, janitors, school cooks, bus drivers, community elders to your entire family was invested in my success. There was a watchful eye everywhere to check on my progress and steer me in the right direction or tell me why what I was currently doing was not in my best interest. There was not a lot of competition because the community still believed that one person’s success was everyone’s success.
The communal approach to raising children reaped untold benefits.
Knowing there were so many people cheering for me to reach beyond our community’s boundaries provided the drive for me to excel in school, graduate with honors and attend college. I felt a great sense of pride in attaining a level that my elders, family, community, and ancestors prayed that I would reach. In sharing the rich and complicated details of their stories, my elders built the foundation I would stand on to accomplish my goals. Their words were my self-talk when I needed motivation; my reminder when I wanted to give up; my strength when I felt what was in front of me was too hard.
Even my grandmothers and the other “mothers of the church” supported and inspired me. I remember leaving home one day to drive back to graduate school and my maternal grandmother asked me to stop by her house. She told me to do well in school and handed me a grease-stained lunch-sized brown paper bag. She had packed a piece of hoop cheese, crackers, and Vienna sausages. There were also two crumpled bills and some change. The smile on her face reflected hope, pride, and love. How could I not go into the world and be the best version of myself for my grandmother who endured so much for me to even have the opportunity to drive across the state and pursue a master’s degree? Our conversation ended with her saying, “That’s $5 in sandwich money. Don’t spend it all in one place.” We laughed, said I love you, and I got on the road feeling loved and inspired to complete my studies.
My Education Journey
My education journey includes an A.A. in Psychology, B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Psychology with a focus in Humanistic and Transpersonal Studies (Counselor Track). Along the way, my path led to connections with professors, business professionals, spiritual & religious leaders, career-driven women and men, media personalities, sanitation workers, fellow students, people who were homeless, library staff, and many more who offered knowledge, support, or just a listening ear.
Serving with those organizations pointed to an important fact—there are obviously valuable support systems in the community.
My Life's Mission
My life’s mission has been to pay it forward to those I am blessed to meet whether in a daily encounter or in a work capacity. I have always had a desire to help others which I “inherited” from my Mom. In my almost 20-year career, I have had the titles of New Horizons Shelter Healthcare Coordinator, Mental Health Therapist, Education, and Training Specialist, Exceptional Family Member Program Coordinator, Lifelong Learning Program Director (interim), Founder of Polite Counseling, LLC, Employee Assistance Program Counselor, and Career & Education Coach. As varied as those labels are my mission has remained the same: to empower others to walk into their full potential to accomplish their vision of success!
I carried my mission with me through various volunteer efforts: store assistant at a thrift store that served people who were economically disadvantaged, admin support at a shelter for domestic abuse survivors, homework assistant at a children’s home, and board member for a local shelter. The circumstances I witnessed as a volunteer combined with news reports plus statistics on high school dropout rates, teen pregnancy, drug abuse, suicide rates of adults and youth, and the state of my local region painted a clear and unfortunate picture.
