CMS helps new moms navigate education, work, family life

At first, Mindy Cooper, an 18-year-old Cobleskill resident, thought of offering her baby for adoption. "But when she was born, they gave her to me, and I started crying," she said. "As soon as I had her, I couldn't do it. There was no way."

Morgan is now six months old.

For young moms like Ms. Cooper -- somewhat inexperienced, a little frightened and without many resources -- Community Maternity Services (CMS) can be indispensable. CMS is a Catholic Charities' agency that receives funds from the annual Bishop's Appeal.

Helping out

In Schoharie County, CMS provides home-based support services to pregnant and parenting adolescents.

The focus is on keeping the young mother engaged in furthering her education while increasing her self-esteem, giving her goals to pursue and helping her to become a good parent.

Program director Gen Overholt said, "Our goal is for them to become productive, secure people who can parent their children well."

From the start

CMS services can begin at the start of a young woman's pregnancy. The agency arranges pre-natal care for the mother at a local hospital, and teaches childbirth preparation and good nutrition. CMS also arranges transportation on the day of delivery to a hospital in Cooperstown, Albany or Schenectady.

Once the child is born, CMS counselors come to clients' homes to teach new parents how to how to play with their children, hold them, feed them, discipline them, and care for their other physical and emotional needs.

CMS also provides essentials, like cribs, clothing and diapers, to mothers who can't afford them.

Family unity

Counselors also meet with the new mother's parents and other family members to help them better understand the new mother's situation, and to make sure clients are included in assistance programs that may make their lives a little easier.

The Schoharie CMS is also contracted by the local county department of social services to provide home-based parent education to families of any age.

"We work with many young ladies who want to parent their children differently than they were parented -- and they just don't know how," said Ms. Overholt. "They really want to do better, and we're there for them."

Obstacles

Ms. Cooper and other young moms face an uphill climb. Counselor Maureen Blanchard, who began to work with Ms. Cooper shortly after Morgan's birth, noted that her client is one of the luckier mothers because Ms. Cooper's family was supportive of her decision to have the baby, and she was able to finish high school.

Other young mothers face angry or unsupportive family members, or drop out of school. Furthermore, with only a high-school diploma, many young mothers find that making ends meet is a challenge. Of the 20-25 moms currently served by the Schoharie CMS, only 12 fathers are present to help out.

"I didn't know how hard it was going to be," said Ms. Cooper, who added that Morgan's father is not involved with her care. "I didn't want to go back to work, but I had to, because I have no other way to support her."

Many teenagers are "out on their own and trying to be adults with no one really reliable to help them" but CMS, said Mrs. Blanchard.

Dreams

Mindy lives with her family, and works as a housekeeper and laundry aide for a local healthcare service. She is aiming at becoming an animal technician at a pet store.

At one time, her dream was to become a NASCAR pit mechanic. When she was small, she would help her father and grandfather fix cars. She enrolled in the local VO-TEC auto mechanics program and "loved it." She planned to go to college right after high school.

Now that Morgan has arrived, her dream is a little further away, but "I'm still going to college," Ms. Cooper said. "I knew I couldn't leave Morgan to go to college somewhere else. [CMS] is helping me to find something in college here that I could do."

Making ends meet

Ms. Overholt is proud that Ms. Cooper, like every other young mom served by CMS, is staying off public assistance.

"Our families work two or three jobs to make ends meet. They have no health insurance, no benefits, and they really struggle," Ms. Overholt said. "We are not judgmental; we try to be good listeners. A lot of our young kids don't hear positive reinforcement; they only hear criticism. They trust us, and can tell us their hopes and their dreams and their fears -- and we can try to redirect that in a positive way."

Ms. Cooper hopes to "have a good career, and be able to support [Morgan] and myself. My child is more important than anything to me. I carried her for nine months. She's a part of me. She's always happy. She's very smart for her age. She's a big girl -- so big."

(5/6/04) [[In-content Ad]]