Student starts women’s support group

By Madison Sharrock, Assistant Editor|September 27, 2022

Blue Butterfly Wellness Group LLC is an up-and-coming women’s support group, started by a current CCU student.

The support group was created this past March by Tameshia Jackson, a psychology major. She said the mission of the group is to provide resources to women to help them to become more confident and encourage them. As the founder, she plans the meetings and activities and sets dates for outings, such as volunteer work and community service.

Jackson offers social support, team-building activities, volunteer services and in-person or online meetings. She has previously worked with therapists to help the women in her support group with past trauma and self-care. She created the wellness group because she noticed a lack of encouragement in the area.

“I noticed that there wasn’t a lot of unity among women here in Horry County,” Jackson said.

For her next project, Blue Butterfl y is planning to volunteer at a local women’s shelter. Jackson said her main goal is to reach out to as many women as she can, especially those who are incarcerated. She said she spoke with the Horry County Courthouse to arrange for them to do community service work with her.

“[I can] maybe help them make a positive transformation and then do better in society,” she said. Jackson, along with noticing the absence of support, created the group to search for ways to help other people. She came to Coastal in 2018 and studied for almost two years but her son suddenly got sick. He had surgery and she said she fell behind in school. Now, Jackson boosted the wellness group, along with her mobile boutique called Blue Butterfly Apparel. She said she wants female students at CCU to join Blue Butterfly as it can be an asset to those who moved here from out of state.

“They’re away from their families here, you know, then they move far away from home,” Jackson said. “I feel like they can expect to be amongst people that are uplifting and that want to see you do well.”

Blue Butterfly will have its next meeting during the first week of October, where she will post updates on her Instagram account, @bluebutterflymb. Attendance is currently free of charge.