As an only child, I didn’t get to experience sisterhood. When I had my kids, my grandmother was there to help (and yell at doctors, but that’s another story). I never really minded not having a sister, although I did dream of having an identical twin so we could alternate school days… 😀
Most of our residential teen moms, like Kalunji and Leticia above, are either orphans or estranged from their families. They came to us totally alone, homeless, and either pregnant (Kalunji) or sick (Leticia). No one has prepared them to be a mom.
But at the Ross and Suubi Houses, we have girls in all stages of “new mom.” We have girls aged 15 to 19 in residence now — there’s a big difference in those ages, and it’s great to have older girls who can help the younger ones.
Mama Santa has been in the same situation our residential girls find themselves in. She had Ronald when she was just 14! As our House Mother and Cook she brings invaluable experience, empathy, knowledge, and a touch of “buck up” to our residential program. We all need all of those things!
Our residential program is completely donor supported. It costs us about $50/month for each teen mom and her child, and some of the girls are with us for 18 months. If you want to become a sponsor of our residential program, you can do it quickly and easily on DonorSee – just click the button! 100% of donations go to the program, so you are making a huge impact every single day.
