Generation Hope Supports the Pregnant and Parenting Students Access to Education Act (HR 5894)

Generation Hope is pleased to announce its support of a new piece of legislation, the Pregnant and Parenting Students Access to Education Act (HR 5894), aimed at improving high school graduation rates and post-secondary and career opportunities for pregnant and parenting teens.  We have signed on to endorse this important and comprehensive legislation introduced by Jared Polis (D-CO) and 16 other Members of Congress.

Healthy Teen Network and the National Women’s Law Center assisted with the Act, and their websites contain Action Alerts that you can send to your Senator and members of Congress to enlist their support.  Click here for more information. 

What does this Act do?
Provides the necessary resources to states and school districts to ensure that pregnant and parenting students have equal access to educational opportunity. Specifically, the legislation:

• Enables states to create a state plan for pregnant and parenting students, provide professional development and technical assistance to school districts, coordinate services with other state agencies, and disseminate information, among other activities.
• Establishes a state coordinator and school district liaisons for the education of pregnant and parenting students.
• Requires school district grantees to provide academic support services for pregnant and parenting students; assist students in gaining access to affordable child care, early childhood education, and transportation services; engage in student outreach, recruitment and retention; provide professional development for school personnel; and revise school policies and practices to remove barriers and encourage pregnant and parenting students to continue their education.
• Allows districts to provide parenting and life skills classes; case management services; pregnancy prevention interventions; referrals to primary health care, family planning, mental health, substance abuse, housing assistance, legal aid, mentoring, or other supportive services needed by the student; as well as to address school climate issues, including illegal discrimination against and stigmatization of pregnant and parenting students.
• Collects and reports data on pregnant and parenting students annually, including educational outcomes, and requires a rigorous evaluation of the program.

(Derived from the Fact Sheet)


If HR 5894 is passed, programs like ours will be strengthened and our capacity to help pregnant and parenting teens earn their college degrees will grow. 


Imagine what a better would this would be, if we supported the college pursuits of all young people.


-  Nicole Lynn Lewis, Founder and CEO

A Logo That Tells It All

We unveiled our logo when we launched this temporary blog for Generation Hope, and we received tons of positive feedback, but we wanted a version that articulated our mission.  We've got one! 

Thankfully, we know an amazing person by the name of Kelly Connelly who is also a photographer, and she's pretty nifty with graphics as well.  When we asked her to design our logo, she donated her time and came up with something truly great.  Now, we're unveiling our tag line logo, which really sums up exactly what we're doing at Generation Hope.

As you can see, our tag line reads, "Investing in a generation of successful families." 

This means that Generation Hope is not merely a program that encourages the college pursuits of teen parents.  It also supports their children, and it creates strong mentoring relationships that will impact future generations.

We're so thankful for Kelly's hard work, and her generous spirit.  It's great to see that people believe in what we're doing, and it's great to know that so many young parents from D.C., Maryland, and Virginia will benefit!

If you'd like to check out Kelly's work, please visit http://ohbaltimore.wordpress.com/.

If you want to find out how you can lend a helping hand, please visit out "Current Needs" page.

- GH

Teen Voices 2010: What Makes Teens Successful?

How can we ensure that teens are successful?  A recent study, Teen Voices 2010:  Relationships That Matter to America's Teens, confirmed something that we already know here at Generation Hope - positive adult-teen relationships play a huge role in teens doing well academically, psychologically, behaviorally, and emotionally.

The study was conducted by the Ready by 21 National Partnership and was sponsored by Best Buy. 

"As caring adults, we must all do a better job to give teens the support they need to thrive," said Brian Dunn, CEO of Best Buy, Inc.

Teen parents are among the most vulnerable in terms of lacking positive adult relationships and feeling as if their voices are not heard.  Our investment in their futures through programs like Generation Hope, will have a great impact on their lives and the lives of their children.

Won't you join us?  Find out how you can get involved today.

Read the full study here.

- GH

Board of Directors Are Confirmed!

We've reached an awesome milestone for Generation Hope.   After months of searching and various meetings, we've pulled together an amazing, passionate, accomplished group of people to help us launch this organization and lead it! 

Click here to check out our Board of Directors.  

It's awesome to see a dream taking its form.  Now we are one step closer to truly making a difference in the lives of families that need it most. 

The work is just beginning.  Now it's time to prepare for the first board meeting!  Stay tuned...

- GH 

Board of Directors Update

Pulling together a passionate, committed Board of Directors is no easy task, but so far it's been an exhilarating experience.  We have met with some AMAZING people who have given us valuable advice and tremendous inspiration.  They've told us stories of how teen pregnancy has touched their lives and how education makes all the difference.

We are hoping to have our board members confirmed by the end of this month, and we are well on our way.  Soon, we will be posting the list of our fabulous leaders with expertise in higher ed, legal issues, teen parents, fundraising, media, and nonprofit management.

Stay tuned, and thank you for your support!

- GH

What "Three in Ten" Means

Last month we conducted a poll asking people to guess out of every 10 girls how many become pregnant at least once by age 20 in the United States.  The answer: "three in ten."  This was more than just a trivia question.  We wanted people to think about just how many teen pregnancies we're talking about here.  "Three in ten" reflects the importance of Generation Hope's work and the work of so many organizations across the country that are trying to help pregnant and parenting teens to create successful lives.

"Three in ten" means there are a lot of young women in this country who find themselves pregnant before they've even graduated from high school.  Many of them will not earn a high school diploma and most of them won't come close to earning a college degree.  We're not talking about a small group of unruly teens here.  This large number means that you may know someone who has been in this situation or who will be in this situation.  We're talking about your neighbor, your student, your niece, or even your daughter.  If we want to better our communities, we need to care about helping teen parents succeed.

Want more statistics on teen pregnancy and teen births?  The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy has a wealth of information at the national and state level.  Check it out.

Inspired to become a Generation Hope sponsor?  Please email us.

- GH

PS:  We've posted a new poll to the right.  Take a guess!

A Great Week for Generation Hope

When you're trying to get an organization off the ground, there will inevitably be ups and downs.  But this week, the "downs" were outnumbered by some great "ups."  

On Friday, we secured our second board member, Kimberly Korbel of Amber Association Partners, LLC, who will undoubtedly bring a wealth of nonprofit and business knowledge and a passion for helping teen parents to Generation Hope.  We're are so excited to have her!

And on Saturday, during the celebration of our founder's new book, we distributed information about Generation Hope.  During the event, people signed up for our mailing list and asked about how they could get involved.  We even received our first donations!

We knew when we started out that this wouldn't be easy, but I don't think we knew just how rewarding and amazing it would be - and we're just getting started!

One awesome week down.  Many more to go.  

Thanks for all of your support, guys!