Directory of Recipient Organizations GirlsDirectory
Girls
Teen Parent Connection
Teen Parent Connection provides teen parents with parenting education and support services with the shared goal of child abuse prevention and increased self-sufficiency.
Each year, there are more than 500 births to teenagers ages 10-19 in
DuPage
County
(Illinois Department of Public Health) and teen pregnancy rates are on the rise. The challenges associated with adolescent parenthood are well documented; poverty, insufficient education, inadequate support systems, and a lack of knowledge on how to nurture the needs of young children. In turn, the outcomes for children born to teens are also startling: these children are more likely to be born prematurely and/or sick, live in poverty, have lower academic performance, become victims of child abuse and/or neglect, drop out of school, and become young parents themselves. Our programs are designed to equip teen parents with the information and resources needed to promote their child’s healthy growth and development.
Our programs include:
Doula Services: Doulas provides prenatal care/ labor & delivery information and support before, during, and after labor through weekly home visits. The Doula supports early parent-child bonding, breastfeeding initiation, and conducts post-partum depression screenings.
Childbirth Education Classes: Eight week classes cover prenatal care, developing birth plans, and preparing for labor and delivery. Support partners are encouraged to attend.
Healthy Families program: Family Support Workers provide parenting information covering overall health and development of the child through weekly home visits. This program offers services at various levels of intensity over the first five years of the child’s life.
Parent Groups: Weekly teen parent group meetings provide additional educational and social support opportunities that help reduce the isolation young parents often face.
Prevention Program: As part of a pregnancy/ STI prevention presentation, young parents trained as peer educators inform students at local Junior High and High Schools about the realities and challenges of being a young parent.
Parent’s Pantry: An incentive based pantry where participants can purchase items such as diapers, wipes and formula using “baby bucks” earned when parents set and meet goals.
Scholarships: Qualified young parents are offered scholarships to support their educational goals and efforts toward self-sufficiency
Evaluation Results from
Northern
Illinois
University
’s Center for the Study of Family Violence and Sexual Assault: “Results revealed a significant reduction in child physical abuse risk, lower levels of parental distress, reductions in rigid parenting attitudes, lower levels of loneliness, and increased parental ego strength. Collectively, these findings suggest that after one year of home visiting services new mothers experience improvements in a number of areas of functioning and exhibit reduced risk for child physical abuse.”
Survey Responses from teen parents in our programs:
“I understand my child more.”
“I feel I can control my anger and discipline my child appropriately.”
“I’m a better mom in general and I know more about parenting.”
“I’m more aware of services available to me.”
“It has shown me how to be more responsible, and how to handle stress of the baby.”
“I learned how to better control my future and think about my future.”
Girls in the Game
Girls in the Game provides and promotes sports & fitness opportunities, nutrition & health education, and leadership development to enhance the overall health and well-being of all girls.
Since 1995, Girls in the Game, a 501c3 nonprofit organization, has emerged as a leading girls' health and fitness organization in Chicago. Every year, Girls in the Game empowers more than 2,000 girls to make healthier choices and develop the confidence and leadership skills they need to succeed on and off the field.
From yoga and lacrosse to soccer and dance, Girls in the Game exposes girls to a wide and energizing mix of sports and fitness activities year round.
Girls are encouraged to get in the game —any game—so they can learn teamwork and determination, and to make choices that lead to a happier, healthier life. All sports and fitness programming includes hands-on workshops on nutrition, health and leadership.