Making A Difference in Your Community : Lending an Ear and a Hand to Young Moms

Often, a teen-age mother just needs someone to listen to her.

Alexandria Hernandez, a 20-year-old sophomore at Cal State Northridge, understands the feeling. She’s been there.

“You may have had a child, but there’s a lot of things out there,” said Hernandez, a San Fernando resident who has her eye on a career as a podiatrist. “Your life does not have to end.”

As part of the Young Moms program run by Friends of the Family in Van Nuys, Hernandez leads a small group of other young mothers in weekly discussions about everything from proper nutrition and baby care to what makes a good man and how to deal with people who look down on teen-age mothers.

“I can relate to them,” said Hernandez, the mother of a 4-year-old girl, Leilani. Hernandez was a student at St. Genevieve High School in Panorama City when she became pregnant, and the Young Moms program helped her.

The program was created in 1989 as a support group for teen-age mothers, said Regina Law, the program’s project coordinator. Through “parent group facilitators” such as Hernandez, the group tries to prevent neglect and abuse of children and to teach proper baby care, while also explaining how to prevent future pregnancies and encouraging the young mothers to continue their education.

The program helps about 120 to 150 women and teen-agers from age 13 to 21, who can join the program as early as their third trimester of pregnancy.

Fewer than 5% of the women in the program have repeat pregnancies, compared to 35% in the general population. Also, 80% of the mothers in the program either graduate from high school or complete a general equivalency degree, compared to 20% for other teen-age mothers, Law said.

Friends of the Family is looking for more women who were teen-age mothers and are now between the ages of 24 and 40, to act as group leaders as Hernandez does. It is a chance for those who have been helped by the program to return the favor.

Hernandez said the support she received from her family helped her continue her education and graduate with her high school class, but the Young Moms program offered her a friendship and sharing that broke up the isolation a teen parent can feel.

“Some of the girls that were in my group, I still talk to,” said Hernandez. She expects to continue her friendship with the parents in the group she leads now.

A woman who has been a teen-age parent has a lot to offer, Hernandez said.

“Even though they’re young moms, they have a lot of experience, a lot of ideas and advice they can share,” said Hernandez. “A lot of the girls just want to see someone who has made it.”

Bicultural and bilingual applicants are especially needed. The program asks for a three-year commitment from parent leaders. Transportation and child care is provided. For more information call Law at (818) 988-4430.

Other volunteering opportunities:

The Burbank Retired and Senior Volunteer Program is looking for volunteers 55 years and older.

The Burbank city conservation desk, in the main lobby of the Public Service Department Administration Building at 164 W. Magnolia Blvd., needs volunteers to assist the office staff as receptionists and to distribute information on energy efficiency and water conservation.

Volunteers should be able to deal with the public in a friendly and professional manner. Afternoon work is preferred, although mornings are available.

The Don Tuttle Senior Center, at 1731 N. Ontario St., Burbank, needs a volunteer instructor for an art class meeting either Tuesday or Thursday from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m.

For more information on either program, call Dee Call at (818) 953-9503.

Getting Involved is a weekly listing of volunteering opportunities.