Mentoring a Teen Mom
YoungLives is making a difference in girls' lives. While there are many support agencies that offer child care, baby items, and classes, these agencies are often not able to meet the relational and emotional needs that are so crucial to helping these girls stay in school, develop parenting skills, and become healthy, independent women. We want to help girls in this situation to not only get connected with the physical support that they need, but also to find encouragement, friendships with other teen moms, and unconditional love from a committed mentor.
Many of these girls have experienced a lot already in their 16 or 17 years... abuse, drug use, abortion, abandonment, becoming a mother, dropping out of high school, moving from place to place, etc. Now they have to suddenly take on the enormous challenges of being a mother - along with being a student, daughter, friend, and teenager.
The Role of a Mentor
A mentor is a friend who walks with a girl through the good and hard times of becoming a mom. She offers acceptance and support, and loves a teen mom right where she's at in her life. She becomes a trusted friend who models Christ's unconditional love and shows her what life is like when you are walking with Christ.
Girls tell us things that they don't tell anyone besides their best friends - and the mentors are there to love on them, walk beside them, and encourage them no matter what they say or do.
