"The center helped me out when I first found out I was pregnant. I was nervous and scared. They told me about my options, talked with me about everything and helped me feel everything was see more… going to be okay. And it is, it's great!"

---M.

T.'s Story......
T. came into the center one day for a pregnancy test. She was happy because she might be pregnant. But her boyfriend said she should have an abortion. Our nurse gently explained all her options. When the nurse determined that T. was already 8 weeks pregnant, she did an ultrasound. T. looked at her baby's heartbeat for the first time and was overcome with emotion and decided to keep and parent her baby. We weren't able to keep in touch with T. because her phone was disconnected. One day she got into a terrible fight with her boyfriend. She drove to his house hoping to make things right with him, but he refused to talk with her. She thought the only thing to do was to get rid of the baby. But she remembered our nurse saying,"Our doors are always open even if you only want to talk." Later T. came into the center where our nurse encouraged her.
T. just had her baby! She is working on repairing her relationships with family and her boyfriend. She needed a crib and we were able to help her because someone had just donated one to the center. Our relationship with T. hasn't ended either. We will continue to help with supplies, classes for parents, other resources...and just being her friend.

V.'s Story.....
I only had one best friend. He was an older guy who was like a big brother to me. I often shared with him how hard I was trying in school, how I wanted to be the first person in my family to go to college. He never laughed at my big dreams. A gang shot him dead and my life changed forever. My world fell apart. I didn't cry or go around screaming, I just made myself forget how to be me. I was mad at the world and I joined a gang, letting their ethics become mine. I got a boyfriend I really didn't know and soon I was pregnant. My family moved to escape the drama. I felt sorry for and was angry --- with me. I was the goody-two-shoes gone bad, so everyone seemed to have something to say. I began hearing this heart beating within me. Just like that it stopped being about me. It stopped being about pleasing a gang or being the perfect daughter. It stopped being about the names I was called or the whispers about the type of person people thought I was. I couldn't hide behind my family or my gang or my fears. I had to choose. I gave birth to and am keeping my son. Raising a child is hard work and that will last for the rest of my life. There are consequences for the things I did and I knew my easy childhood was over. I must now face life like an adult. Instead of worrying about what to wear to junior prom, I worry about how to get my son's fever down when he got the flu. Instead of talking to a guy about a date, I am texting the baby's father about giving me money for diapers. Going to see the latest movie has been replaced by rocking my son to sleep when he is cranky. I am being home schooled and will be until my son is over a year old. I am babysitting five other children and study when they are asleep. Instead of sneaking out at night, I am reading my homework to my son. We just finished "Animal Farm" and are now rounding numbers in math and learning the history of Greece together. I earned an A on my last report card, and when I finish high school I am going to join the Job Corps to become a licensed vocational nurse. The dreams I once shared with my best friend I now share with my son.