Yet, according to BestColleges.com , there are several more, specifcally 20, that are reshaping education by ofering programs for single parents, both moms and dads. At North East, the four student-moms and their children share connecting townhouses at the northern edge of campus, only a short walk to the school’s Ridge Library. “This speaks to what the word ‘mercy’ means,” Sister JoAnne says. “It means going beyond charity to improving quality of life. We’re really empowering them; we’re not taking care of them.” Painful stories turn hopeful If you ask Daijah Campbell’s 4-year-old daughter, Dasani, what she thinks of living with her mom on a college campus, she shouts one simple response: “Great!” “And what’s your mom studying?” she’s asked. “Homework!” Dasani says. For toddlers, it doesn’t get any simpler than that. Yet, the moms enrolled in Mercyhurst’s Women With Children program have much more complicated lives and responsibilities. Each of them was admitted to the program because they were living at or near the poverty level. Only single mothers with up to two children, between the ages of 2 and 10, are eligible. Daijah, Jasmine, Quanshay and Jennifer all share strikingly similar stories. All of them were attending college or some other post-secondary certifcation/ training program when they became pregnant by a boyfriend. All of them were forced because of fnances and resources to discontinue their education. It was, as Jennifer aptly describes it, a “mostly difcult” time. Quanshay, who was attending Pittsburgh’s Carlow University, calls having to quit school “devastating.” None of them married their children’s fathers, but all of the kids are in touch with their dads in one way or another, either through occasional face-to-face visits or via cell phone. Each mom also has depended heavily the past few years on family – either parents, grandparents or aunts – to help them with baby-sitting, car rides and emotional support. While housing had been one of the biggest stressors in their lives, it also motivated them to move on.
Daijah, at one time, was working and living in Erie, paying $750 a month for an apartment. She lost her job, forcing her and her two daughters to return to her grandmother’s home. Quanshay was living with her mother in Erie, but the “racket” created by her younger brother and sister, along with her own needy child, wasn’t conducive to studying. Jasmine’s parents’ house in Crawford County was old and flled with cigarette smoke. Little Noella made about four trips to the hospital last year for asthma- related issues. Jennifer, at 33 the oldest of the moms, was paying $500 per month for an apartment in North East. She knew she had to break the cycle of poverty and uncertainty. They all applied and were accepted to Mercyhurst North East, and all of them have chosen health- related majors, merciful in their own right. Jennifer is majoring in health studies, Quanshay and Daijah are in the licensed practical nurse program, and Jasmine is studying for her registered nurse degree. Says Daijah: “A lot of mothers already feel that we’re caring and nurturing. We already have some of those qualities that nurses have.” Jackie Fink, who now also serves as the Women With Children program director, meets regularly with each of the moms. She ensures the institutional safety of their children and that the women take advantage of all the benefts of the program, including family enrichment classes, individual goal planning sessions, academic support, career services, on- campus counseling, and parenting and information workshops. Erie Dawn, a local advocacy agency for women in transition, partners with the program to provide assistance to the mothers on an as-needed basis. Nearby St. Gregory School has opened its doors to any of the children eligible for its preschool and elementary programs, but at this time the women have secured day-care services elsewhere. “This program is going to take these women into new career paths in which they’ll be independent and good providers for their families,” Fink says. According to Jasmine, the Women With Children program bypasses any negative judgment of single moms. “Some people wouldn’t look so positive on a single mother, but Mercyhurst took that thought and completely turned it around so that we can be productive and successful,” Jasmine says. “I don’t know if I’d still be coming to school if I wasn’t in this
program. I don’t know that I would be able to aford gas for my car.” It also has bolstered self-confdence and instilled an enduring hope for the future. “I have no thought about going backwards now,” Jennifer adds. “I just want to give my son a good life.”
Update: Program Director Jackie Fink reports that the four women highlighted in this story are doing well academically and making progress toward their degrees. The Women With Children program is at capacity for the fall semester, however, Fink maintains a waiting list for interested families. Visit northeast.mercyhurst.edu/women-with-children to learn more. 13
Made with FlippingBook - professional solution for displaying marketing and sales documents online