Early Literacy and the Benefits of Reading 15 Minutes a Day

6/9/2021

Early Literacy and the Benefits of Reading 15 Minutes a Day

Early childhood development is one of the core components of our two-generation program. To ensure that children are meeting their age-appropriate linguistic milestones, we place a heavy emphasis on supporting our participants to read to their children and promote early literacy. We believe in making reading fun and we help our program participants start libraries for their children at home by providing free books through our partner, Bring Me A Book Foundation.

What is Early Literacy?

Early Literacy is the development of skills that support children in learning to read. Children who meet their literacy milestones and are reading proficiently in the early grades are more likely to graduate high school and enroll in college (source: https://www.renaissance.com/solutions/early-literacy/). Early literacy is essential to giving children the foundation they need to learn and grow.

Meet the Mom Who's Helping Youth Complete Probation Successfully

4/29/2021

The inaugural recipient of the "Honorable Teresa Guerrero-Daley Inspiration Award," Evelyn Gonzalez, is making a positive impact by influencing youth going through probation to make better decisions and successfully their complete probation.

Watch the video and to hear about her journey from a difficult upbringing, to having her son at 16, landing her dream school, and paying it forward for youth experiencing things like she did. You can also find a transcript of her inspiring story after the video.

How can we, as individuals, as a community, rise up to eradicate racism?

4/16/2021

Updated: 4-20-2021

How can we, as individuals, as a community, rise up to eradicate racism?

We start on the inside. We all need to continue to look inside at our own biases because it is within ourselves that we must first demolish the beliefs that make us feel lesser than and make us look at other people as lesser than – what are we holding against others from the moment we see them?

Recognizing our own shortcomings is incredibly difficult, but to make change happen we must look within and take the next right action.

Injustice is dominating the headlines and our social media feeds and it makes it seem as though the dream of justice is only that, a dream. But it’s imperative that we cultivate our belief in taking the next right action.

In the News: ABC30 "Downtown Fresno organization aims to support young mothers"

4/9/2021

Click here for the original article and video by reporter Dale Yurong

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Little Sienna McCabe is your typical two-year-old according to her mother, 17-year-old Avana Tarr.

"When she was a newborn, it was way easier," Tarr said. "Now she's running everywhere, getting into things."

Which makes it difficult when mom is in the middle of her online classes.

Why direct cash is critical for young moms struggling to pay the rent in this pandemic

3/10/2021

Why direct cash is critical for young moms struggling to pay the rent in this pandemic

By: Diana Farias Heinrich, Communications and Marketing Manager, Teen Success, Inc.

Direct cash assistance has to be a part of the equation if young mothers and their children are going to survive the short and long-term consequences of the pandemic's economic crisis

Without financial support, young families are bearing the brunt of the worst long-term effects of the pandemic, from developmental delays on their children due to stress, food insecurity, and homelessness, to potentially lowering earnings across their lifetime for both mother and child due to inability to stay in school and support their child’s learning.

Cash for College: How Educational Stipends are Going to Help Young Mothers Stay in College and Even the Playing Field

2/10/2021

By: Diana Farias Heinrich, Communications and Marketing Manager, Teen Success, Inc.

Cash grants, stimulus checks, microgrants – an influx of cash can mean the difference between survival and ruin for people experiencing poverty. That’s why in the age of COVID-19 we’ve seen two rounds of stimulus and more potentially on the way – cash helps people make ends meet.

For the majority of young mothers Teen Success, Inc. supports, educational stipends for post-secondary education are going to be that lifeline. Having low-restrictions and coupled with financial education, educational stipends will reduce the financial barrier that is often the reason young mothers do not pursue college, career, or technical education programs.

Free downloadable infographic shows the challenges young mothers face to finish their education and how the Teen Success, Inc. program helps.

1/8/2021

Teen Success, Inc. program infographic

Download Infographic

Teen Success, Inc. is building pathways to prosperity for two-generations, young mothers and their children.

As young women of color, Teen Success, Inc. participants experience limited access to healthcare and reproductive health information; trauma in their homes, relationships, and communities; lack of access to safe, affordable childcare and stable housing; all while facing the stigma of having a child in their teens. These factors compound the education gap they are facing.

The number one reason girls drop out of high school is pregnancy. In the United States, only 38% of teen mothers ever graduate high school, and less than 2% of young mothers graduate college by age 30.

Getting Low-Income Youth Through School During COVID-19

12/10/2020

Empty classroom desks/search bar:

(Stock image)

By: Diana Farias Heinrich, Communications and Marketing Manager, Teen Success, Inc.

Low-income youth attendance is at its lowest, while affluent communities have the highest student attendance rates

One thing has been made clear by the latest spike in COVID-19 and the subsequent return to shelter-in-place: our youth are not alright.

The effects of the pandemic are hitting low-income youth hard: many young people are not in school or working, or are struggling to make ends meet even with essential jobs. This includes foster youth, homeless youth, justice involved youth, and many pregnant and parenting youth.

Teen Success, Inc.'s Board of Directors Matches Donations up to $65,000

11/30/2020

Kicking off on #GivingTuesday 2020, Teen Success, Inc.’s Board of Directors invests in breaking the cycle of poverty for young families; All donations matched through the end of 2020 up to $65,000

MILPITAS, CA, November 30, 2020 – Teen Success, Inc.’s Board of Directors takes a stand for educational equity and young families of color by matching all donations made to Teen Success, Inc. through December 31, 2020. The $65,000 matching campaign kicks off on December 1, in conjunction with #GivingTuesday, a national day of giving where everyone can make a difference.

Teen Success, Inc. empowers young mothers to graduate high school, pursue post-secondary education, and break the cycle of poverty for themselves and their children.

Click here to download the press release.

Child Development Practices to Empower Young Parents

11/10/2020

Participant painting her baby's feet in a Teen Success, Inc. mommy-and-me activity

Participant painting her baby's feet in a Teen Success, Inc. mommy-and-me activity

By: Diana Farias Heinrich, Communications and Marketing Manager, Teen Success, Inc.

Think back to when your kids were little, would you be able to tell if they were experiencing developmental delays? Many parents don’t know what to look for to indicate if their child’s development is on or off track and as a result, don’t get connected to specialists and resources early on.

Screening for developmental delays happens most often during a child’s pediatric well-checks. Parents fill out a form with questions such as: “Can your child say five words?” and “Can your child stack five blocks?”. Then they discuss anything that may stand out with their doctor.

Teen Success, Inc. Advocates educate program participants in the stages of early child development so that they can approach their doctors with the right questions and thereby make answering these forms more effective.

How the Childcare Crisis Affects Low-Income Families

10/8/2020

CHILDCARE ACCESSIBILITY SIGNALS THE WEALTH AND EDUCATION GAP IN CALIFORNIA

Photo: Lesly and her daughter, Addilyn

By: Diana Farias Heinrich, Communications and Marketing Manager, Teen Success, Inc.

62% of California’s infants and toddlers are eligible for subsidized childcare. Of those eligible, only 14% are actually enrolled in subsidized childcare (Children Now).

There is a severe lack of safe, reliable, and affordable childcare throughout California, more so since the pandemic began. A low-income teen with a child must be able to access this resource if they are ever to break the cycle of poverty for their family. They need the time to be able to go to school to invest in their future while simultaneously holding down a job to put food on the table for their children. While childcare is more readily available in high school, through district supported childcare on continuation school campuses, this availability disappears as young mothers transition from high school to post-secondary education.

This issue is exasperated when young mothers are single. Many wait months, even years, on subsidized childcare waitlists, and the majority of these do not accept infants and/or require children to be potty trained. This means that for the first two years of the child’s life, a young mom has to rely on family to help if she is to be able to make any investment in her future beyond high school.

A Young Parent's Path to Obtaining a Living Wage

9/9/2020

High school education alone is not enough to earn a living wage.

An educated woman is a powerful woman, but when a woman is also a mother, we also know that her opportunities (or lack thereof) will directly impact her children too.

We work with young mothers because stigma surrounding teen pregnancy is an additional barrier to obtaining a living wage. We can help them overcome those barriers so they will be able to persist with their education and create an avenue for her child to follow in her footsteps.

Parenting teens are one of the youth populations at highest risk for not finishing their high school education or pursuing a post-secondary education. Only 38% of young mothers graduate from high school and less than 2% of them complete college by the age of 30.

In California, those who don’t graduate from high school earn annually less than half of the amount considered the state’s living wage of $57,096.

Press Release JUL 28: New Silicon Valley Influencers Lead Teen Success, Inc. Board of Directors

7/28/2020

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: DOWNLOAD
Tuesday, July 28, 2020

Media Contact: Becka Ross | (408) 263-8330 x105 | bross@teensuccess.org

New Silicon Valley Influencers Lead Teen Success, Inc. Board of Directors
Silicon Valley influencers and veterans, Ellen Moir and Madanno Bolano, succeed former Apple executive Nancy Heinen as Co-Chairs of Teen Success, Inc.

(MILPITAS, CA) – Teen Success, Inc. announces incoming Board Co-Chairs, Madonna Bolano and Ellen Moir, succeeding Nancy Heinen’s four years of service as Board Chair.

A philanthropist's action list to support Black Lives Matter

6/10/2020

(Updated 6-30-20)
We're outraged by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Aubery – but just saying that, it’s simply not enough. To say that we're heartbroken for George’s wife and daughter – it’s not enough. We're grieving their loss and angry for having to do so, but, that's not enough.

We've been fighting for social justice for young mothers and it's time for a reckoning.

It might seem like educational equity is a different fight than the Black Lives Matter movement, but it isn't. We can't continue to sidestep the fact that ending the cycle of poverty won’t happen without also dismantling the institutions and policies that keep Black communities trapped.

Click read more to find a list of resources and book mark this page, we'll be updating it regularly.

What will young mothers tell their children about COVID-19?

4/30/2020

By: Diana Farias Heinrich, Communications and Marketing Manager, Teen Success, Inc.

What story will young mothers tell their children in a decade - when they read about COVID-19 in their history books in middle school and high school?

Hopefully, that their community stepped up to help and that their families are better for it.

Teen Success, Inc. serves young families across California and Nevada in communities where young parenthood rates remain high (despite the downward trend in teen pregnancy across the nation). Teen pregnancy disproportionately affects young women of color who are living in poverty – which means we’re serving the communities hardest hit by COVID-19, too.

Teen Success, Inc. empowers young mothers to complete high school and persist through post-secondary education while nurturing their child’s positive development to ensure the success of the whole family.

Donate at https://teensuccess.networkforgood.com

Teen Success, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Tax ID: 45-0702884

Get In Touch With Us

Headquarters & Bay Area Office
Sobrato Center for Nonprofits
508 Valley Way, Milpitas, CA 95035

Main: (408) 263-8330
Email: info@teensuccess.org

Central Valley Office
2909 Tulare Street, Fresno, CA 93721

©2021 TEEN SUCCESS, INC.