When the news came, my heart sank. Life has not been easy for this young one. Homeless at 18 but alone for far longer than that. They had only been living with us since February of 2024 but it felt like much longer. Young love mixed with substances and a myriad of mental health issues was a recipe for chaos, but the Baden house offered some stability. Linda, the house manager, made sure they always had food. Ms. Mary, a newer resident, made them feel heard. This offered the Assisi House staff some peace of mind. But when the phone call came and said “he left me… and I’m pregnant”, the peace of mind quickly left.
I’ve worked with young, housing insecure mothers before and it certainly was not easy. Between doctors appointments, balancing meds, and finding food they can keep down, there wasn’t a lot of time to plan for the future, but that baby is going to come one way or another and we needed to find some housing. 211 was a dead-end, as always, but after making some phone calls, we found Almost Home.
Almost Home is a housing program for young mothers between the ages of 16-21. Young people can have their babies there, raise their children and move into independent living, all with the assistance of professionals. We scheduled a tour with Ms. Parker and we were instantly wowed. At every turn my pregnant friend would say “oh they will teach me how to clean!”- a skill not passed down by their parents, or “this is the crib my son will sleep in”. Ms. Parker told us about the GED program they offer, how meals are served, the in-house therapy and doula support. I kept having to hold back tears.
The next day, we got a call saying they got the bed and we would be able to move in on Friday. We got all packed up and headed back to Almost Home, and this time we were truly almost home. As we waited for their intake, employees would walk past and say “yay a new family member” and I could see the apprehension dissipate. A few days after they moved in, I received pictures of the crib all set up and words stating how happy they are to finally be home.
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