14019 NE 8th St.
Suite A Bellevue, WA 98007
425-643-1904 office
425-643-2725 fax

Teen Moms and More

A Success Story of Growth, from Melinda Wallis, Founder of Teen Moms and More

The Teen Moms Project in Seattle (actually Kirkland), WA, is an example of ‘simple sharing’. It started – around 1997 - as a result of Melinda Wallis becoming aware of the teenage girls who attended the local alternative high school. She felt particularly empathetic toward one teenager who got off the public bus at the stop by the school, struggling with her baby, stroller, baby bag and back pack. She also, having given up a child to adoption years earlier, wanted to give support to the girls who were keeping and raising their children.

The local high school has a child care center, which allows the teen parents to have their babies and toddlers at school while the teens continue attending classes. The child care center also provides extra classes in parenting, nutrition and so on. The goal is to support the teens to continue their education and become able to gain fruitful employment - and still experience success as a parent. Several other parents, and members of a local Subud group joined Melinda in providing gifts for the Teen Moms (yes, sometimes there are Dads, also) for Christmas, just to let them know someone cares. Most of the Teen Moms are single and living on their own.

The program has grown slowly and steadily. We now have an annual grant from Deseret Industries for $1500 in each location, which provides free goods from their thrift shops. This allows us to help the Teen Moms throughout the year. A basic grant from Susila Dharma USA allows us to provide useful Christmas gifting and get the Teen Moms some items FROM their ‘wish lists’, which also include basic needs like diapers. We also receive gift donations and certificates from several local stores, as well as free Christmas trees from a local nursery.

Furthermore, our program is now beginning to work with the child care center at the school to be sure that the teens are receiving appropriate social services --and offer to fill various material needs throughout the school year.

In 2000, the Teen Mom program expanded to Los Angeles, where Soraya Newell is assisted by a few other volunteers in serving a larger population of teen parents in several high schools. Soraya’s style in unique. Whereas in Kirkland, we create a “pile “ of gifts per Mom, Soraya will help the school set up a “free store” for a day, and the Moms can choose what they wish from the store.

As Teen Moms grows, we have sought others to help with our projects. Each year a few people appear to help us keep our project going! The stores who donate to us may give us less than they used to, due to economic pressures, but still, they keep giving. One needs only to ask!