Home For Unwed Mothers Opens

When an unwed teen-ager in south Snohomish County or King County's Eastside gets pregnant, chances are she will decide to keep the baby. And if she is thrown out of her parents' home, chances are she will end up on the streets.

That will change for some next month when a home for unwed teen-age mothers opens just north of Bothell.

The home will take only five mothers and their babies at a time - a small number compared with the hundreds of teen-age mothers in the Puget Sound area - but the home's organizers say it's a start.

In addition to the five young mothers - ages 16 to 21 - who will live in the house with their babies, there will also be a ``house mother'' who will run the house and help with parenting classes.

Last year more than 7,200 unwed Washington teen-agers gave birth, and almost all decided to keep the babies. Many were thrown out of their homes when their parents learned about the pregnancy, said Sheridan Hopper of Friends of Youth.

While donations helped Friends of Youth buy the Canyon Park-area house and surrounding property, the nonprofit organization still needed help to get the house ready for the mothers and their babies. The National Association of Industrial and Office Parks stepped in, with 75 businesses donating material and 160 volunteers donating their time to paint, clean and remodel.

Howard Finck, president of the Renton-based Friends of Youth, said once the word got out about the house opening up, ``we were overwhelmed with 60 young mothers'' interested in moving in.

The house was officially opened Wednesday by King County Executive Tim Hill, but only one mother is living in it now. Crews are still doing some work, and the rest of the mothers won't be moving in until the end of the month.

Hopper said the young women must meet certain guidelines to be accepted, and must pay $150 a month in rent. Hopper said all the mothers accepted into the program have already decided to keep their babies, ``so we don't have to get into the adoption and abortion issue.'' They also have to take parenting classes. The mothers will be able to go to school for job training or to finish high school.

``We have also set a time limit to stay here of up to a year,'' Hopper said. ``We will help them find a low-income apartment or somewhere to stay. We will also work with their parents and see if we can get the family back together.''

HOW YOU CAN HELP

-- The new house for unwed teen-age mothers in the Canyon Park area is still without furniture and baby supplies, from sheets to diapers. People can donate material by calling Friends of Youth at 228-5775. Volunteers are also needed to help the young mothers in a one-to-one mentor program, taking the mother and child out for some activity or offering to baby-sit.