My name is Dawn “TyGa” Horne-Simmons, and TyGa’s Den began with a simple but powerful belief: every girl deserves a safe place where she feels loved, protected, heard, encouraged, and reminded that her future is worth fighting for.

I was born and raised in Jacksonville, Florida. I am a mother, grandmother, and a woman who has spent more than 20 years working in the medical field. Throughout my life and career, I have seen families experience difficult circumstances and young people struggle to find direction, encouragement, positive activities, and adults they can trust.

I remember growing up when programs such as girls’ clubs gave young girls somewhere to belong. They could learn, build friendships, discover new interests, and be surrounded by positive influences.

Where are those places for our girls?

Our girls are growing up in a world filled with pressure. Some struggle academically. Some lack positive role models. Some simply need someone to listen. Others need somewhere safe and productive to go after school, surrounded by guidance and meaningful activities.

I do not believe we should wait until a young girl is already in trouble before we invest in her. That is why I am building TyGa’s Den.

More Than a Building

TyGa’s Den is being developed as a safe youth enrichment and mentoring program for girls ages 8–18 in Jacksonville, Florida. My vision is to create a welcoming environment where girls can receive homework assistance and mentoring while discovering activities, talents, life skills, and possibilities they may never have had the opportunity to experience.

• Mentoring and positive adult guidance
• Homework and academic assistance
• Cooking and practical life skills
• Crochet and other creative hobbies
• Jewelry making
• Resin art and crafts
• Guest speakers and career exposure
• Field trips and educational experiences
• Leadership and confidence-building activities
• Age-appropriate wellness and emotional-support resources
• Positive friendships and a sense of belonging

“I am safe here. I matter here. Someone believes in me here.”

Why This Mission Is Personal to Me

I understand what it means to love and care deeply for other people. For three years, I helped care for my mother, Ellen C. Horne-Ansley, before she passed away on May 18, 2025. Losing my mother changed my life.

Grief taught me how important it is for people to have somewhere—and someone—to turn to during difficult seasons. It also made me think deeply about legacy: What are we leaving behind? Who did we help? Whose life became better because we were here?

I cannot change every circumstance a young girl may face. But I can help create a place where she does not have to face everything alone. TyGa’s Den is part of the legacy I want to leave.

Prevention Through Opportunity

When people hear about youth violence, teenage pregnancy, school difficulties, bullying, low self-esteem, and other challenges facing young people, conversations often begin after something has already happened. I want TyGa’s Den to be part of what happens before the crisis.

• Give her somewhere productive to spend her time.
• Give her mentors.
• Expose her to possibilities.
• Teach her skills.
• Help her academically.
• Celebrate her accomplishments.
• Listen when she speaks.
• Remind her that one mistake does not have to determine her future.

That is prevention through opportunity, connection, education, and community.

Our Mission

To provide girls ages 8–18 with a safe, supportive environment where they can build confidence, develop practical and creative skills, receive mentoring and academic support, strengthen their emotional wellness, and discover the limitless potential within themselves.

Our Vision

We envision a Jacksonville where every girl has access to positive relationships, enriching experiences, caring mentors, and opportunities that help her grow into a confident, capable, compassionate young woman.

 What Funding Will Help Us Build

TyGa’s Den is seeking financial and in-kind support to build the infrastructure, programs, and safe environment necessary to serve Jacksonville girls. Funding priorities include:

Facility & Operations: facility acquisition or lease support, utilities, insurance, safety improvements, furnishings, and operating expenses.

Academic Support: computers, printers, internet access, books, school supplies, tutoring resources, and homework stations.

Creative Programs: jewelry-making materials, crochet supplies, resin-art materials, storage, tables, and equipment.

Cooking & Life Skills: kitchen equipment, cookware, utensils, ingredients, food-safety materials, and instructional supplies.

Mentoring & Wellness: trained mentors, qualified professional partnerships, leadership programming, workshops, and age-appropriate wellness resources.

Transportation & Experiences: field-trip transportation, admission fees, career exposure, cultural experiences, and educational outings.

Program Capacity: staffing, volunteer screening/training, technology, outreach, program evaluation, and administrative systems.

Why Your Support Matters

Every contribution has a purpose. A donated laptop can help a girl complete her homework. Cooking supplies can teach a life skill. Craft materials can help a girl discover a talent. Transportation support can make an educational field trip possible. A guest speaker can introduce a girl to a career she never knew existed. A mentor can become the positive adult influence a young person remembers for the rest of her life.

Become a Founding Partner

I am inviting businesses, foundations, churches, community organizations, professionals, educators, families, and individuals to become part of the foundation of TyGa’s Den. Our supporters will not simply be helping fund a program—you will be investing in girls before the world tells them what they cannot become.

Imagine a girl entering TyGa’s Den at 10 years old. At 12, she discovers something she loves. At 14, a mentor helps her through a difficult season. At 16, she begins thinking seriously about college, technical training, entrepreneurship, or a career. At 18, she leaves prepared for her next chapter—and one day returns to encourage another girl sitting where she once sat.

Girls who enter needing encouragement can eventually become women who give encouragement.

                                                                                                                       My Promise 

          If a 12-year-old girl walked into TyGa’s Den believing nobody understood her, I would want to look at her and say:

“You matter. Your voice matters. Your dreams matter. Whatever happened yesterday does not get to decide everything that happens tomorrow. You are capable of more than you may see in yourself right now, and while you are in this Den, you will have people reminding you of that until you can believe it for yourself.”

                                                                                                       Help Us Build the Den

TyGa’s Den welcomes conversations with grantmakers, corporate sponsors, community partners, individual donors, volunteers, mentors, guest speakers, and in-kind donors.

Together, we can give Jacksonville girls more than somewhere to go. We can give them somewhere to grow.

PARTNER WITH TYGA’S DEN

Grants • Sponsorships • Donations • In-Kind Support • Volunteers • Mentors

Dawn “TyGa” Horne-Simmons
Founder & Executive Director, TyGa’s Den
Jacksonville, Florida

Safe Space. Strong Girls. Bright Futures.