Olivia

Achieved! Independence and Stability

Olivia came to Women’s Life Care Center one very cold winter day, feeling vulnerable and looking for any support available. Her baby, Alex, had been born very early and was still in the hospital. Olivia had nothing for the baby – no car seat, no crib, no clothing, and no way of paying for the things she would need. She also needed a place to live, because the pregnancy had strained the relationship between herself and her mother.

From that first day onward, Olivia became a regular visitor at our center as she prepared for her baby’s homecoming.

Fast forward to today: Olivia has successfully completed training for the Army National Guard, both to serve her country and to establish a sound footing for her future. She is employed full time at the local National Guard Base as a production controller. She is three semesters away from earning her bachelor’s degree in business supply chain management and logistics. She has achieved the independence and financial stability she hoped for when she became a mother.  

“When I came here, I didn’t know all that they would do for me -- that they would give me all the baby supplies, that they would coach me . . . 

The coaching helped me to be organized. This was one of my biggest problems because I like to do everything at the same time. I learned how to be independent, how to redirect my goals and to work on them, step by step.

I learned parenting skills – how to give my baby a bath, to feed him, what kind of car seat to put him in . . . everything I needed to know.

My son Alex has changed my life. I feel more confident, more powerful as a woman, more independent.  I now know that I have a lot of people who love me. . . and I have reunited with my mother.”