Fee to Play: $125 per person Hole Sponsor: $100
9501 Spring Run Blvd., Bonita Springs 34135
Our success rate has
generated great interest among those interested in improving
foster care.
Our plans include more facilities in
Florida, as
well as helping other communities build similar programs on
the same model.
As a
privatized 501(c)3 organization, Our Mother's Home raises
50 - 60% of its own funding. We depend heavily on our
dedicated volunteers, contributions of funds, commodities
and services.
Mary Lewis, Director Our Mother's Home, Honored Again!
Mary Lewis was recognized by the News-Press as one of
2006 People of Impact.
Our Mother's Home is a program
keeping teen foster mothers and their children together,
breaking the foster cycle,
teaching transitioning skills, and overcoming histories of abuse. Our prototype home has
8 mother and 8 babies living,
learning and growing in 1 loving home in Southwest Florida.
Over 100 mothers and children
have benefited from the program since its
inception in 2000, with an 80%
success rate of keeping families together,
transitioning to self-sufficiency and avoiding re-entry into the
foster system. In comparison, the Florida Department of Children and
Families has only a 30% success rate and rarely keeps mother and
child together.
But this is only half the story. An
average of four OMH residents a year
turn 18 and are no longer supported by the foster system, even if
they have children and are still in high school. Our Mother's Home
is dedicated to helping these young women transition from
foster care to self-sufficiency without giving up their children,
their education or their future.
Journeys: A TRANSITION Program
Our Mother's Home is currently working on a
transition home for
foster mothers who are losing their state support because they have
turned 18. The transition home will provide a group home setting
where mothers can receive support as they enter the workforce,
master self-sufficiency skills, and support each other as they enter
adulthood. This support is essential in
breaking the cycle of foster
care in young Moms, and enables mothers who desire to continue their
education to pursue these opportunities.
Our Mother's Home has
received a donation of land adjacent to the
existing home, and is now seeking support in planning, building and
maintaining the home. The Our Mother's Home Building Fund is
partnering with the Southwest Florida Community Foundation to raise
the $450,000 needed to provide this necessary and ground-breaking
program.
A yearly average of four mothers and their
babies are required by the State to leave Our Mother's Home at age
eighteen. Many of our mothers have not completed high school or
desire to go to college. We would like to provide safe, transitional
housing for these mothers and their babies under the guidance of the OMH Transitional Program Specialist.
"Where children are cherished and futures
are formed."
