Juana is a 17 year old married student who was living with her husband and her baby , Julio, before she became homeless. Her husband kicked her and her baby out and when she asked him to at least look after baby Julio he told her that both of them could “sleep in a bush.”
Juana came to the Squalicum counselors telling them she and her baby were homeless. As a team, the counselors and I began searching for avenues for her to find transitional housing along with case management for her situation. All the shelters were either for attendants who were youth (0-17 years old) without babies or women (18+ years old) with children. The emancipated 17 year old teen mom seemed to miss the requirements for every place we called.
As tears were beginning to form in her eyes, one of our Communities In Schools members had made a connection with a transitional housing complex 30 minutes away. Their only stipulation was that they would need to offer transportation to Juana’s school every day and she would need to attend parenting classes. These were the best stipulations we could have heard and the tears from Juana’s eyes disappeared.
Now Juana is in a safe living environment and is continuing to attend Squalicum’s GRADS program, which helps support high school moms. For a student to succeed, they must have their basic needs satisfied and Communities In Schools at Squalicum High School is working hard to make this happen!