HCP looks to start teen parent project | News

Wholesome Community Partnership President Catherine Heimdale introduced a approach to assist pregnant and parenting teenagers at HCP’s regular meeting Friday.

“There is very little that I can feel of which is greater than encouraging a child who has an unbelievable obstacle to prevail over,” Heimdale said.

The undertaking would assistance youthful women dealing with being pregnant remain in college and navigate their potential in a healthy way, Heimdale stated. Heimdale is an administrative assistant at Rogers State University and sees the gains of youthful girls owning a program just after substantial school. Delivering occupation mentors, access to health care and a safe and sound environment for expecting and parenting ladies would all be goals of the challenge, she claimed. The destructive impacts of currently being a teen parent with little to no assistance can have an effect on the relaxation of a younger girls lifetime, she mentioned.

“These young children almost generally fall out of significant faculty,” Heimdale mentioned. “If you fall out of higher university and you have a child, you are going to be on welfare and that is a tough highway to get out of.”

She is looking for community companions to assistance and reported she hopes to work with Claremore General public Universities and it’s systems for troubled youth.

“If we can support pregnant and parenting teens uncover a route, get their high university diploma and produce a prepare for their life, we have changed a entire family’s daily life and that is a massive affect,” Heimdale claimed.

The venture is in the very starting phases, but Heimdale reported she programs to commence connecting with associates and setting up meetings.

“What I would truly like to conclusion up with is supporting to create a product that other educational facilities throughout the point out and beyond can copy,” Heimdale claimed. “This is a national trouble and if we can start off right here and change Claremore for the far better and adjust Oklahoma for the better, then we have genuinely performed a little something magnificent among the the numerous wonderful things that we do.”

Heimdale served on the Margaret Hudson System Board, which she mentioned she hopes to emulate in the new venture. The Margaret Hudson Software presented a record of solutions to expecting or parenting girls from the age of 11 to 19 for 49 yrs. Solutions incorporated existence competencies classes, overall health care, relatives preparing training, career internship prospects and university scheduling and enrollment.

Heimdale claimed the program had it’s funding pulled and was pressured to shut several a long time in the past.

“It’s a passion for me,” Heimdale said. “Working with Margaret Hudson in Tulsa, I uncovered that learners as young as 10-many years-outdated became pregnant and turned a guardian.”

Any person with queries or interest in HCP’s venture to assistance pregnant and parenting teenagers can attain out to Heimdale at cheimdale@rsu.edu.