Teen Moms Honored for Earning Diplomas

In a ceremony that was a testament to their own perseverance as well as the value of a helping hand, about 25 teenage mothers from the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys were honored Friday for finishing their high school educations this spring.

Many of the young mothers at the Pacoima Boys & Girls Club on Friday were accompanied by both their children and their parents. They were among 96 teenage moms in programs run by the El Nido Family Centers to graduate in the class of 1997, said Sandra Ray, El Nido program director.

“These young women are terrific,” Ray said. “They have overcome incredible obstacles balancing the responsibilities of motherhood and their educations.

“That some of them have managed to finish their high school educations at all is on the order of a minor miracle.”

Many of the graduates thanked their parents for sticking by them and credited El Nido’s social workers with providing counseling and support services that helped them be good mothers as they worked to complete their degrees or pass the high school equivalency exam.

“They check in on you to see how you are doing and give you help with diapers, clothing, anything they can,” said 18-year-old Marybel Navarro, who, despite giving birth to her daughter, Estrella, at age 15, was the first in her family to earn her diploma.

“Even though I had a baby, I wanted to have a normal life like other girls and pursue my goals. Without [El Nido] I wouldn’t have been able to,” she said.

“It was a tough, hard road, but it feels really good accomplishing something you have worked so hard for,” said Judy Oliveros, 18, who was one of seven graduates to receive $500 college scholarships from El Nido.

EL Nido, with six locations in the Los Angeles area, is a nonprofit agency that provides counseling and other services to parents and children affected by abuse, teenage pregnancy and juvenile delinquency.

San Fernando City Councilwoman Joanne Baltierrez, who was a teenage mother herself, offered her congratulations Friday but warned the graduates not to be satisfied with what they have accomplished so far.

“You have to keep striving higher, for your families and for yourself,” she said.