In a skit, six young women share
the pain of how unplanned pregnancies turned their worlds upside-down.
They chant: "I fell down, now I get up, nowhere to go, got
to sit down and cry. Who would want you, We need to be a family,
It's better for the baby. . . ."
The skit was part of Thursday's graduation ceremony for Homespace
at the Olmsted Center for the Visually Impaired. Nine women received
certificates.
Homespace provides transitional housing for homeless single mothers
ages 18 to 25 and their children. The organization offers programs
such as "Buds to Full Blossoms," designed to improve self-image
through the use of drama and other forms communication.
Marquita Gil, one of the performers, tells her story.
"I held a lot of grudges toward my mother and didn't respect
her like I should," she said. "She was in and out of rehabs
and I was in different homes."
Gil, 19, joined the program last year after bouncing back and forth
from Buffalo to South Carolina, trying to find a stable family member
to lean on. Discovering she was pregnant, she dropped out of school
and abandoned her dream of becoming a nurse.
"I thought, 'Ain't no book going to feed my daughter,' " she
said.
Gil is currently taking General Equivalency Diploma classes and
hopes eventually to become a registered nurse.
Thelma Roberts, executive director of Homespace, said Gil has come
a long way.
"Most of the time she used to roll her eyes and smack her lips
(when someone talked to her). Now, she holds a conversation (and)
knows there are consequences for her actions," she said.
"Buds to Blossoms was created to help them get past the past.
We try to get them to get rid of past ghosts. Sometimes they get
so busy having pity parties they can't seem to let go. They just
seem to linger," Roberts said.
Homespace has 12 town houses where parents and children can stay
for 24 months until they get back on their feet.
Gil's friend and "big sister" Tamera Rose, 20, also participated
in the skit. The mother of two young children, Rose hopes to study
radiology technology.
"I will be moving and I'll miss them, but from my experience,
I will know what kind of area I want to live in and have my kids
around," said Rose.
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