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Transitional Living Program, Frankfort, KY
For Homeless Pregnant and/or Parenting Teens
 

And Baby Makes Two
By Wendy Helterbran

When I met Shane'Na she appeared, at first glance, to be typical, like most teenage girls I have met. And, as a mother of two teenage boys and a five-year-old with a cache of sitters, I have met plenty -- young girls with fresh faces that reflect light from the glitter in their make-up, gum snapping enthusiastically between their straight, pearly whites, cell phone in hand-as if it were an appendage, and a pair of questionably fashionable jeans that looked like they were salvaged from a second hand shop. You know, the kind with the torn knees and frayed bottoms. Parents of teens know exactly the kind of jeans I'm talking about.

"When I found out, I was three months", she said. "After a half dozen pregnancy tests, I had to accept it." I didn't think it would happen to me, and I was afraid to tell my mom." At the time she was a sophomore attending Shelby County High School. She had been seeing her boyfriend only a few months. The timing was unfortunate. She was fifteen years old, her dad was deployed to Iraq, and her mom was trying to manage a household, job and three kids. "At first, I considered putting the baby up for adoption, but then, after a while, I decided to keep her," she said. She described feeling pressured and confused by everyone's suggestions that ranged from abortion to adoption to keeping the baby.

Her world changed. Suddenly, trips to the mall to socialize, Friday night football games, talking on the phone, and going to school seemed like a distant, foreign past. Her social life was redirected to school, work and preparing for a baby. She described that time in her life as lonely, confusing and frightening. When I asked her about the baby's father, she explained that he, too, was a teenager, unprepared for fatherhood.

During her second trimester, she moved to southern Indiana's St. Elizabeth home in New Albany for pregnant teens. There, she went to New Albany>High School and Learning Center. She focused on her pregnancy, school, and on her future. While she was at St. Elizabeth's, she earned points by working hard and following rules. These points could be "cashed in" for items for the baby, like diapers and clothing. She stockpiled and made up her mind that she was willing to do whatever it took to raise her baby and provide it with a loving home and bright future. Natalie Alexandra made her debut December 20, 2006, weighing in at 7 lbs, 4 ounces. It was Christmas break. But it was no break for Shane'Na.

On January 3, 2007, Shane'Na and her newborn daughter arrived at Volunteers of America's Transitional Living Program in Frankfort, Kentucky, a program designed to provide housing and comprehensive services to homeless, pregnant or parenting teens between the ages of 16 and 21.

Remembering how sleep deprivation took its toll on me and numerous other moms I have known in my life, I was perplexed as to how she could manage motherhood, school and work. So, I asked her about it. "It was hard!" she exclaimed. "My day began at 4:30 a.m. feeding the baby, getting her items packed for the day, getting myself ready and out the door by six to take the baby to the sitters located 30 minutes away." She continued, "School began at 7:30 and ended at 3:30 and I worked after school making minimum wage. I easily put in an eighteen to twenty hour day.

The exhaustion took its toll. She transferred from Western Hills High School to a non- traditional educational program, Phoenix Academy Education Development Center in Franklin County. There, the day began at 9 a.m.and ended at 3:45. Work, motherhood and school became a bit more manageable.Then, she enrolled in Bluegrass Community Technical School and completed the Certified Nursing Assistant Program. This technical skill helped her land a position at a local nursing home, nearly doubling the hourly wage she was making at a local restaurant.

She boasts of Natalie's most recent accomplishments:  "She can talk! And, she began walking at 9 months!" We visited her room and space at the Frankfort program site. There, I saw photos of a beautiful, bright- eyed baby girl, smiling from ear to ear. And, one of her sleeping. I asked Shane'Na about her "five year plan" and what that looks like. We both talked about the fact that Natalie will be in Kindergarten by then, and, as I looked down into the empty baby bed a moment of nostalgia took hold of me, and I reminded her how quickly time-and childhood- passes.

"I want to go to college", she said without hesitation. "Someday, when I grow up", she continued", "I want to be a paralegal."