Who is the Pregnant Teen Center?
The Pregnant Teen Center was created in February 2000 as a non-profit corporation by Zanie Diaz, CEO, and executive director. Our main purpose is to address the overwhelming rise of teen mothers and expecting teens who were suffering from substance abuse, domestic violence, and homelessness.
Our program services include transitional housing, emotional, mental, and educational support to assist them with transitioning into a successful, full life.
We provide life skills, tools, and resources to optimize the potential for our clients to transition into an independent, responsible member of our community.
The Pregnant Teen Center transitional housing program is designed to insure that pregnant teens /teen parents complete high school and go on to college or job ready when they leave the program. The Pregnant Teen Center will give the teens a powerful sense of hope and remove the fear of hopelessness.
Our Mission
The Pregnant Teen Center mission is to provide life enrichment services that promote the transformation into a healthy holistic lifestyle. The lifestyle changes are designed to insure that pregnant teens /teen parents complete high school and go on to college or job ready when they leave the program. The Pregnant Teen Center will give the teens a strong sense of hope and remove the fear of hopelessness.
Why Is A Program Like The Pregnant Teen Center Needed Today?
Research shows that although teen pregnancy rates have been declining in the U.S. since 1990, teenage pregnancies among youth in foster care have reached epidemic levels. Teenage girls in the foster care system are twice as likely to get pregnant before turning nineteen, as opposed to teenage girls who are not in foster care.
Many of these teenagers are pregnant again before the age of nineteen. Further research finds that as these young women age out of the foster care system, they are more likely to experience financial hardships, such as inability to pay for rent or electricity, increasing the likelihood that her own children will be placed into the foster care system. Teenage mothers in foster care urgently need access to educational programs, counseling, and life skills to increase the chance of a healthy, whole, and successful life.