Our Mother’s Home is kicking off a capital campaign to help generations to come. The Building for Future Generations Capital Campaign hopes to raise $1.75 million to support the purchase and renovation of a building that will allow for the consolidation and growth of its Mentored Living Programs and allow for more space for transitional living. This project will move the current residence for teen mothers and their babies, located in San Carlos Park, to a new location that’s ideally closer to the downtown Fort Myers area.
Since 2000, Our Mother’s Home has been providing a safe and nurturing environment for young moms and their babies. These mothers are between the ages of 11-21 and are in the foster care system. The latest statistics show that there are more than 2,500 children in the foster care system in Southwest Florida and since its inception, Our Mother’s Home has provided residence for over 200 teenage mothers. Based on national statistics, by age 21, 71 percent of young women in foster care were pregnant at some point, compared with 34 percent of their peers nationwide.
To address the number of teenage girls aging out of the foster care system, Our Mother’s Home aims to offer additional transitional living space for young women ages 18-21. They also plan to incorporate an Educational Center and an Early Childhood Learning Center into their new renovation plans. Studio+, a local architecture and interior design firm, donated their time to design renderings of key spaces for the new facility.
“Meeting the needs of the Southwest Florida community in our current space is an ever-increasing challenge,” said Executive Director, Alicia Miller. “Due to the physical limitation of our current residence, we are unable to provide support for our teen mothers who age out of the foster care system, as they are no longer able to share a space with any of our other residents. We have been in pursuit of a new building and location that can adequately serve this essential group of young mothers and their babies.”
The Campaign is structured so that the community can contribute to one or more specific target areas of their choice through naming and recognition opportunities.
“The generosity of our community continues to amaze us,” Miller added.
Our Mother’s Home relies on the kindness of individual donors, grants, and foundations. Financial pledges have been received, but much more is needed to reach the goal.
The agency’s Capital Campaign, complete with the rebranding of a new logo and updated mission statement, will be officially unveiled at the kickoff event and chamber ribbon cutting on Wednesday, January 12 from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre. With the agency’s new leadership in place and an almost completely new Board of Directors, they are poised for significant changes in the coming months.
For a complete informational packet about this project or if you wish to donate, please visit www.ourmothershome.org or contact Alicia Miller at alicia@ourmothershome.org.
Our Mother’s Home
Our Mother’s Home (OMH) was founded in 2000 by Helen Coppage, a foster parent who saw the need for a dedicated residential program to allow teenage mothers and their babies to remain together as mother and child. The organization provides teen moms a safe and supportive environment to stay with their children, learn life skills and finish their education. Since its launch, more than 400 mothers and children have benefited from Our Mother’s Home Mentored Living Program, successfully preserving families, transitioning young mothers to self-sufficiency and saving the lives of children by avoiding their re-entry into foster care. This unique home is the only one of its kind in Southwest Florida. For more information, call 239-267-4663 or visit ourmothershome.org.
