750,000 Teens Pregnant Each Year - What Hope Cottage is Doing About It

In battling the teen pregnancy crises sweeping the nation, Hope Cottage educates teenagers about the realities of the issue.  Did you know that 750,000 girls become pregnant each year in the United States?  Did you know that Dallas is rated the NUMBER ONE city for repeat teen pregnancies in the nation?  Don't feel badly - most teens don't know these facts either.  These numbers are staggering and continue to rise.

Statistics prove teen pregnancy is taxing on both youth and community resources and reflect an overall misunderstanding about the realities of being a teen parent.  To address these issues, Hope Cottage offers a free presentation, Teen Mentoring and Prevention (TMAP).  TMAP focuses on the challenges of teen pregnancy while including an interactive life skills lesson about effective decision making.  TMAP is not a sex education program - it is a fact based, age appropriate discussion about a situation that is too easily becoming the norm.  Teachers appreciate how TMAP complements TEKS objectives.  TMAP empowers teens with the knowledge and skills to confidently advocate for teen pregnancy prevention in both the lives of area teens and the lives of their peers. 

In the 2010-2011 school year,  Hope Cottage  delivered TMAP presentations to more than 1,000 students in schools throughout DFW.  If you are interested in learning more about TMAP or scheduling a presentation, contact Christina Easton at 214.526.8721, ext 203 or CEaston@hopecottage.org. 

HopeCottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721. 

If you are a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546.

Hope Cottage and Alley's House - Working to Address Teen Pregnancy

On July 20 Hope Cottage delivered a very successful Adoption 101 presentation to staff members at Alley’s House, a Dallas based non-profit organization whose mission is to empower teen moms in order to forever end a cycle of poverty that, otherwise, would likely be passed on to their children. Alley’s House provides a number of free services to pregnant/parenting teen moms including case management services, mentoring programs, support groups, computer training, high school/GED tutoring, on the job office training, life skills workshops, and counseling services. Most clients are self-referred or referred by CPS or schools, and are between the ages of 13 and 21.

After the presentation, Hope Cottage Training Coordinator Heather Hussong sat down with Alley’s House Executive Director, Allison Whitehead, to discuss how Alley’s House is changing lives.

HH:  How is Alley’s House addressing the issue of teen pregnancy?

AW:  Alley’s House requires active clients to sign an agreement they will not get pregnant again while an active client. The success rate of this agreement is 96%. Teen parents receive counseling to address current needs and demands of a teen parent.

HH:  How are pregnant/parenting teen girls benefiting from the services offered at Alley’s House?

AW:  Alley’s House offers client support they would not have otherwise. Case managers and programs services provide clients with an individualized plan.

HH:  What is the ultimate goal of Alley’s House services?

AW:  To help girls become independent by creating and being involved in their own plan to be successful parents. Most moms think life is over when they become pregnant because they think they have no options. Alley’s House helps them create goals for their future and build self esteem to achieve those goals.

 HH:  What can a pregnant/parenting teen mom expect when joining Alley’s House?

AW:  Support.

 

HH:  At the end of the day, what is your biggest reward?

AW:  Seeing teen mothers feel empowered and aware they have a say and choices. That is when they get that they can take action.

After the Adoption 101 presentation by Hope Cottage, staff at Alley's House decided to include information about adoption, if the client expressed an interest, during the first visit with a new client. 

To learn more about Alley’s House, visit their website. 

Hope Cottage is the oldest nonprofit, non sectarian adoption agency in Dallas. Since 1918 Hope Cottage has been building and nurturing strong families through counseling, education and adoption services.

 

If you have questions about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 214.526.8721. 

 

If you are a woman facing an unplanned pregnancy and would like to talk to someone about adoption, please call Hope Cottage at 1.800.944.4464 or 214.404.4546

Hope Cottage and the Assistance You Make Possible

This week's Hope Cottage blog is continuing the subject matter begun in last week's blog - clients that have been helped because of YOUR support.  Again, we cannot stress enough how none of this would be possible without your monetary and inkind gifts.  Thank you!

Cindy was 21, seven months pregnant and homeless when she came to Hope Cottage for help.  Her life had been difficult and she was coping the best she could.  Her wordly posessions consisted of a backpack and two threadbare pillowcases containing a few treasured momentos and some clothing.  Cindy had a heart of gold and knew that she wanted the best for her unborn child.  She made an adoption plan to give her child the support, stability and love she never had growing up.  Being part of the foster care system, as she had been, was not the life she wanted for this child. 

Cindy was unable to work due to her stressful pregnancy and could not support herself financially.  A friend could offer her a bed, but Cindy still needed help with rent, utilities, food and clothing.  Your gifts to Hope Cottage,  provided groceries and maternity clothing during the two remaining months of her pregnancy. 

How does this story end?  After giving birth, Cindy placed her child with a loving family, relocated to Ohio where her other three children lived and began her life anew and full of hope - hope that you gave her. 

Tours, Tours, Tours

Part of the job of the non-profit Development Office is reaching out to the community at large and keeping them informed of what is going on at the agency. Every Development Officer has their "favorite" - newsletters, blogs, tweets, press releases, special events, public speaking - you name it - we are doing it. One of the favorite things we do here at Hope Cottage is to give tours. And let me say, right up front - we don't have babies living here - which considering how much I love rocking babies, is a good thing. Hard to get any work done when you are spending the day nuzzling, rocking and singing! Lots of people want to visit us at Hope Cottage and learn what we do. Hope Cottage has been placing children in homes since 1918 and we are fortunate to have a plethora of historical documentation. Pictures galore and newspaper articles like you wouldn't believe. Reading newspaper articles from the 20's and 30's is fascinating because it provides a glimpse into a world that no longer exists. People find adoption intriguing. Lots of questions that start "I read in the newspaper..." or "I saw this movie on TV..." and we are here to answer their questions. We love sharing our story with our guests and a humbled and honored they take the time to see what we do. We average 2-3 tours a week and love doing them. Come visit us at Hope Cottage - "we'll leave the lights on and the door open."

This Just In!

Wow! Kudos to our Counseling and Education Team here at Hope Cottage - just yesterday they reported that just since 2005, 8,459 teenagers have been through the ABC's of Adoption Education Program. For those of you not familiar with this program, the ABC's of Adoption is a program, developed and presented by Hope Cottage to area middle schoolers and high schoolers so that teens are armed with real world information about the difficulties created by becoming a teen parent for themselves, their families and any real or potential children in hopes that they will make responsible choices for both their future and that of babies they may have. It gives a de-romanticized message about teen parenting and then as a tag, presents a few minutes on adoption as an option for a crises pregnancy.



Many of you read the article in September 2009 (and it has also been referenced on this blog) in the Dallas Morning News that recent findings by the Centers for Disease Control showed Texas to be #1 in repeat teen pregnancies (that means children under the age of 20 having more than one child) and Dallas is #1 in Texas. A couple of weeks ago, when the principal at a local (I will keep them nameless) high school reported to an assembly that their school was #1 in Dallas for teen pregnancies, the entire study body cheered. Yikes!



I won't repeat the statistics for children of teen parents - you can see them in an earlier post, but I think we can all agree that teen parenting is not a good thing. You can be a successful teen parent and not succumb to the stereotypes, but only if you have a VERY strong support system and let's face it, most teen parents don't have that.



This weekend, Girls Living Life on Purpose, Inc. is hosting "No Baby! You Ain't Ready". The organization empowers young women to discover, connect and pursue. Kudos to them!



Most of all, kudos to Brooks Quinlan and Susan Mathews for their outstanding work educating, I repeat, 8,459 area teens in the past 5 years on the cost of being a teen parent.