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Healthy Families

Decent Essays

I enjoy working for the Center for Healthy Families because I am able to make a lasting, positive impact on teens and their children who face great challenges. The work we do here at The Center is interesting and meaningful. When a referral comes to us and I sit down with the family to learn about the multitude of challenges they are facing, as well as outside influences negatively impacting them, I think about the potential for us to help them have a better life. I think about what a young parent’s life will most likely look like if they don’t finish high school, in contrast to the dreams they can realize if they do. I see a baby or a toddler with a young mom and I think about all the things related to child development that this teen is probably …show more content…

However, I have come to understand that what we do is seed-planting, recognizing that I won’t always get to see what grows from that seed, but gaining satisfaction in knowing that I planted something good and trust that one day it will take root. Sometimes, though, I do get to see the results. There are a number of teen moms – now young women – who stay in touch with me through The Center. It makes me proud when I talk to a young woman and she tells me how her son is doing in elementary school, and shares that she is working and in college. I recently ran into a former participant downtown while she was on her lunch break. She works in a professional setting and has been stable in her job for several years now. She has obtained and maintained a very nice apartment for herself and her daughter and it makes me smile to see how well she is …show more content…

I have worked individually with participants, facilitated groups in high schools, planned events, and worked extensively on data. When I joined The Center, we used a single excel spreadsheet to track everything. Today we have a custom database, analyze data trends, have implemented community-based surveys, and are still growing!

I embrace The Center’s mission because I am passionate about issues related to overcoming poverty and injustice, as well as education. The work we do here is very closely tied to those issues. When we help a teen mother or father overcome obstacles that, for example, keep them from finishing high school, or make it difficult for them to focus on seemingly little things like reading to their child daily, I see us helping a person overcome poverty. I see us setting up a child for success in the long run. I know that what I do makes a

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