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The Need for Transitional Living |
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Written by Aleatha Singleton : Communications Director
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It has become a fact of life that more and more teenage girls are becoming pregnant every day. Some critics blame the schools for not educating the children. Some
blame the media hype around teen stars such as Jamie Lynn Spears and
the recently released movie, Juno, for a romanticized portrayal of teen
pregnancy. Still others blame Hollywood for bringing us movies and
television series that depict sexual activity among teens as normal and
accepted.
Although it is true that all of these issues are a factor at some point in the lives of these girls, the main reason teen girls are sexually active is their underlying need for love and affection. The sad fact is that many of the girls that walk through our doors have grown up in an environment of abuse, neglect, addiction and an unstable family structure with little or no emotional or spiritual support. They lack the stable parental guidance or positive influence in their lives that helps them become healthy adults.
A core component of our program deals with these various issues and addresses the past hurt and trauma accumulated through the years. While the girls are living at Cara’s House, progress is made and they prepare to go back into the world with a new sense of hope and security. However, it takes much longer than four to six months to recover from a life of neglect and to learn what they need to know to become secure adults and mature Christians.
Anyone can attest to the difficulties that face us as adults when we are not surrounded by a stable foundation in Christ and are not plugged in to a strong support system. We cannot expect our youth to be any more capable of surmounting odds we ourselves cannot overcome in such circumstances. When the girls leave the protection of Cara’s House and return to their previous environments, they once again lose the stability and strong support system they need and can easily fall back into unhealthy relationships.
In our commitment to offer continuing support and safety to each and every girl who comes to us, Hands of Grace Ministries is working to open Victory House Transitional Living. The purpose of the Victory House Transitional Living program is to provide a safe environment for each girl to continue to learn the true meaning of love and to develop healthy relationships.
The program will provide subsidized living where the young women who have given birth can begin to achieve their dreams of going to college or learning a vocation. Hands of Grace Ministries will provide the coaches and mentors these girls need and would not otherwise have. They will be able to go to people who are safe and who can help them in the way loving parents usually do.
Through Victory House Transitional Living, these girls will receive safe, stable living accommodations, basic life-skill building, interpersonal skill development, educational opportunities, assistance in job preparation and attainment, and physical health care that will enable them to become independent, self-supporting and healthy adults with the ability to make better life decisions. This program in addition to the counseling and support provided through Cara’s House will help these girls to grow and mature into strong Christian women.
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