“I didn’t know what I wanted for my life,” Alicia* said. Before receiving services, she was struggling. She dropped out of high school after giving birth to her first child. Her only goals were to be a wife and raise children—she didn’t see other options.

Married at 17, Alicia and her husband now had three children: Jerry, Jason, and Tania when she entered SGA’s parenting program.

Each parent is paired with a mentor who meets one-on-one and makes home visits. Alicia’s mentor helped enroll her two oldest children in daycare and connected her with a job at the same center, where she works four days a week. Mentors also check in at the workplace to provide support and guidance when challenges come up.

Program participants gather weekly with their mentors to learn parenting skills and practice activities they can use with their children, such as arts and crafts. Alicia says, “We are all friends in the group. We’re always hanging out with each other and with the kids. We tell each other things straight up like sisters.”

With her mentor’s encouragement, Alicia set and reached new goals. She studied for and earned her GED then applied to and enrolled in one of the City Colleges of Chicago to study child development.

Her outlook changed dramatically. “I never knew what a strong person I was until going through the SGA program,” Alicia says. “It helped me so much, and I can show my kids there’s more to life.”

*Name changed to protect privacy