| We often share how one of the services Teen Success, Inc. provides to our participants is access to resources and opportunities as our participants often don’t know what programs are available to them. But then, how do pregnant and parenting young women find out about the Teen Success program in the first place? Advocates at Teen Success work hard to network and create relationships with local nonprofit, health, and civic community agencies. These relationships are crucial to spread the word about the availability of the program to the young women+ who could benefit from it. Of the participants in the program, 39% are referred by Social Services and schools, and another 12% are referred through a healthcare provider. |
Young mothers who are already in the program are important sources for referrals. They become advocates themselves, telling their peers to connect with Teen Success and try out the program. Participants in the program make up 17% of all referral sources. Having a young mom’s stamp of approval is the utmost compliment and the warm invitation to join shows a potential participant that she is not alone in her parenting journey.
We partner with schools and community agencies to host peer learning groups in the community spaces our young families are already at. Doing so make the transitions between life activities easier for moms and their children. It allows Teen Success to have a regular meeting place, space for supplies, and an appropriate extra space for childcare while moms learn together.
Our model and referral structures are built to partner with young families in the areas where they live – we come to them. We work to ensure we are imbedded in the community, from hiring staff who are from the same communities to making sure our program locations are accessible to the young families we work with. This creates a safe space for young women to discuss the challenges they are facing as mothers and students, learn to advocate for themselves, and develop parenting skills so their children can also grow and thrive.
We are able to support the young families in our program because of our incredible program partners, including those who provide space for Peer Learning Group, Bring Me a Book who provides free books for all our participants, and the organizations and donors who provide diapers and wipes for our participants, including Help a Mother Out, Fresno County Food Bank, local community groups like Hands4Hope-Youth Making a Difference in El Dorado Hills, and other caring community members.
By partnering with other organizations and imbedding ourselves in the community, we are supporting young families in a way that works best for them. If you or anyone you know serves young women+ who are parents, please tell them about Teen Success. Anyone can get in touch with us via our contact page, agency referral, or self-referral page.