Organization marks 25 years of teen parent program

IOWA CITY — In 2010, a seven-months-pregnant Ebony Hawkins arrived in Iowa City from Chicago to find a better setting for her soon-to-be-born son, Demarco.

Raising your first child is challenging for any parent, but Hawkins was 17 years old and new in town, which provided additional hurdles.

The day before she went into labor, Hawkins called Iowa City's United Action for Youth (UAY) looking for simple advice on the appropriate kind of car seat she should buy for her child.

Officials with UAY's Teen Parent Program arrived at Hawkins's hospital room three hours after Demarco was born on Sept. 20 — five years ago today.

That meeting, just hours after Hawkins saw her son for the first time, was the start of five years of support and friendship that would help shape her into the parent she is today.

But it's been much more than that, she added.

'I think the Teen Parent Program has been and still is there for me more than anybody has ever been, anybody in my life. I will call my family support worker before I will call my mom if I need something, I will call my family support worker to give her good news before I call my friends because I know she's going to be proud,' she said.

'They were the most constant thing I think I've ever had, there was never a time I felt I couldn't call them.'

Small beginnings

UAY opened its doors in 1970 to provide support and opportunities for teenagers and parents in Johnson County.

Twenty years later, with the help of some grant writing and research on the effect of nurse practitioners on teen mothers and their infants, the Teen Parent Program officially launched, said Jim Swaim, UAY executive director from 1974-2013.

When it began, Lynette Jacoby, now Johnson County's social service director, was the program's only paid employee.

Jacoby said one of the most important elements of assisting a teen parent is to remember that they are, in fact, teenagers.

'One of the key issues with young parents is isolation — they don't quite fit in with adult peer groups and they're not very comfortable with adult parents in classes, and part of that is they're often feeling judged and under a microscope,' she said.

'Working with young parents, it requires a certain skill set, you have to be really knowledgeable about adolescence and it also doesn't work to try to use a cookie-cutter approach.'

It is there, with the support staff of UAY's Teen Parent Program, where the service truly shines, she said.

'When everyone in your life is doubting you or uncertain that you're going to succeed, knowing they have someone there at UAY that believes in them, I think that makes all the difference,' she said.

Program offerings have been tweaked over the years, but the mission to provide young parents with guidance and resources — such as counseling and group sessions with peers, parent education and child development skills and help in finding additional resources such as respite care or career and education opportunities — remains unchanged.

Nowadays, the Teen Parent Program serves about 115 families annually, with the program's five staffers working with about 60 families at any given time, said Ally Hanten, Teen Parent Program coordinator.

With so many teen parents and their children finding fulfilling lives, Hanten said the success of the program is palpable.

'Every single day I'm just constantly amazed by the young families in our program and the stuff they are able to accomplish and how amazing of a parent they are despite everything they've gone through,' Hanten said.

Hawkins said her time in the program also has led to lasting relationships with those involved, including Neva Evans, UAY board member and one of the first to take advantage of the program back when it was brand-new in 1990.

Evans, who was one of the 14 teen parents in the program's inaugural year, said she still feels the effect UAY had on her 25 years ago, when she was 17 years old.

'The counseling that is given, and given free, changed my life in the most profound sorts of ways,' Evans said.

Evans is now a State Farm insurance agent in Coralville and her now-24-year-old daughter, Amber, works at a day care center.

To look back on the past quarter-century of the Teen Parent Program, UAY will host an event from 1 to 3 p.m., Oct. 11, at the Coralville Public Library to bring past and present staffers and parents together to reconnect and share their experiences.

'It's extremely gratifying, and the young women that went through the program, seeing their lives and the things they've done with their lives, you just can't get anything more rewarding than that,' Swaim said.

Big plans for the future

In May, following years of growing maintenance and upkeep costs on the more than 100-year-old houses at 410 and 422 Iowa Ave., UAY sold the two houses for $2.4 million to Madison, Wis.-based Court Street Apartments.

In the agreement, UAY was provided one year to find a new building. UAY's Youth Center at 355 Iowa Ave. was unaffected by the sale.

Coming up with a permanent home — which could include a build-out in an existing structure or a new building entirely — has proved difficult, and UAY board Chairwoman Shannon Christensen said it appears the organization will need to move into a temporary space until a permanent location is decided.

'Our goal is to reinvest the proceeds of the sale of the houses into a new location ...

We do see this particular next step as temporary,' Christensen said.

She said there is a possibility UAY could try partnering with another local organization for a shared space, but as with UAY's future building, nothing is set in stone.

'We're willing to go it alone, but it would be wonderful to partner with another organization,' Christensen said.

While some of the future remains uncertain, Christensen said UAY and its Teen Parent Program will continue with its mission to help area youth and parents.

Looking back on her own first half-decade as a mother, Ebony Hawkins has witnessed firsthand the impact UAY's Teen Parent Program can have on a young parent's life.

'I kind of had something to prove, that's what everybody expected — 'She had this baby when she was 17, she was on this great path and she ruined her life, her life is going to suck from here going forward.' My life doesn't suck, my life is great,' she said.