WILMINGTON — The Fund for Women at the Delaware Community Foundation recently released the third payment of $25,000 to Delaware Girls Circles.

DGC is a private, not-for-profit collaboration funded by the FFW, whose purpose is to provide assistance and support to high school girls (grades nine through 12) and their adult caregivers, resulting in increased and on-time high school graduation rates.

Led in its third year by Delta Outreach and Education Center Inc., DGC’s additional collaborating partners are the Delaware Adolescent Program Inc., Wilmington Alumnae Chapter, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and Pathways to Success Inc.

The partners will work together to build academic, social and emotional skills, and to develop and track key success indicators to ensure girls’ achievements are realized in all areas in high school and life beyond. A key component of the program is the parent and family support provided.

Begun in 2018 as a special collaboration in honor of its 25th anniversary, DGC has been awarded $75,000 in grants from the FFW over the past three years.

The collaborators’ desired outcome is that this group of organizations will sustain the DGC program after the grant is completed.