Women Moving Forward helps young moms make positive steps.
Women Moving Forward program worker Elizabeth Buchanan, left, and program graduate Veronica Agudelo-Correa share a moment during the WMF graduation ceremony and five-year anniversary celebration held recently.
Photo/JOSEPH HOWARTH
Travelling solo down the road of young motherhood can be unforgiving. But when you live in poverty and face educational barriers that limit your ability to better yourself and your family, things can start to look very bleak.
But thanks to the grassroots organization Women Moving Forward (WMF), which is run out of the Jane/Finch Community and Family Centre, these moms are receiving the support they need to overcome daunting obstacles. Through education and exposure to new opportunities, more women every year are reaching their true potential and are well on their way to living a life of financial sustainability.
WMF offers a tuition-free, 10-month program with a very personalized approach. Women are asked to pick potential career paths. From there, the students come up with a professional development plan and receive guidance to help narrow down that choice. Next, they are aided through the process of applying to a post-secondary program at a local college or university. The women are also given the opportunity to study at the Women's Studies Bridging Program at York University at no cost.
WMF also focuses on enhancing literacy skills and teaches the importance of civic responsibility. As well, it helps students become aware of government resources and how to properly access them.
Once the graduates make it to the post-secondary level, they continue to receive support.
The program reached a milestone this month as WMF celebrates its fifth anniversary. A group of 17 women will be graduating and to date, 110 women have received help to reach their personal and professional goals. So far the program boasts an overall student success rate of 76 per cent.
WMF was created after a need was recognized from within the community to offer assistance to the growing number of young mothers who, once they turn 20, have to leave support programs for teens.
When WMF launched in 2005, it was given $1 million in grants from both the Ontario Trillium Fund and the Geoffrey H. Wood Foundation. That money has run out, and it faces a financial shortfall.
But WMF has no intention of closing its doors. Program manager Ann Phillips said the average cost per student is $12,000, which she explained is not a lot of money when you consider how much the women gain from the program. While she admitted uncertainty still lingers, she said she is optimistic new donors will come through and that there will be another intake of students this September.
Former student Heyleen Leonardo Perez, a 29-year-old mother of three kids, graduated from the program earlier this year. She said going to school has always been her dream, but she found herself burdened by many other things in life, like being able to provide for her children, so it was something that never came to fruition.
But when she found out about WMF in 2008, she said she knew it was right for her, calling it a "true blessing".
"It has opened so many opportunities for me and I have become so excited about education," said Perez, who will begin her studies at York University this fall. "The program has given me the ambition to provide a better future for myself and my children, and the drive and the support I needed to succeed at university."
Inspired by her mother's accomplishments, her nine-year-old daughter Carolyna recently brought home a report card that had B grades on it, but she wasn't happy.
"Now she won't settle for anything less than an A on her report card," Perez said.