• Teen moms find support to attend college

    The nonprofit Generation Hope is helping young moms afford a college education. NBC's Chris Jansing reports.

    By Chris Jansing, NBC News correspondent 

    SPENCERVILLE --  Jennifer Ramirez remembers it so vividly: the excitement, at 15, of having her first boyfriend.  Then the fear, when she found out she was pregnant.

    "I was in the tenth grade,” she said. “And I remember when I found out, it took me at least, like, two weeks to tell my parents."  

    When she finally did tell them, they worried that Jennifer's dream of being the first person in her family to graduate college had ended.

    "I had all these emotions going through myself. I didn't know what I was gonna do,” said Jennifer, who is now 23.  “I was so worried about school. I was just really scared."

    The odds were certainly against her.  Less than two percent of girls who get pregnant before they turn 18 have a college degree by the age of 30.  But Jennifer knew it wasn't just her future at stake, it was her newborn son's, too.

    So she began the uphill journey -- to raise Jordan while working and getting her degree at the University of Maryland at College Park. She says it was daunting, even, at times, overwhelming. Then she heard about Generation Hope.

    Nicole Lynn Lewis, founder of Generation Hope an organization that helps educate teen parents on achieving the dream of going to college.

    The nonprofit is the brainchild and labor of love of Nicole Lynn Lewis, who was just a teenager herself when she got pregnant in 1998. But two and a half months after Nicole's baby girl was born, she started classes at William and Mary.

    "And I was sitting in classrooms with, you know, people who were my age that were worried about, maybe the party that was going on Saturday night," recalled Nicole, who lives in Columbia, Md. “And I was concerned with, you know, what am I cooking for dinner? Am I gonna get to my daughter in time?

    There were plenty of naysayers, who never thought she could pull it off.  But four years later, Nicole graduated. Then, when she was 29 years old, she founded Generation Hope in March 2010 to help other pregnant teens do the same.

    The first-ever class has seven teen girls, chosen from 12 applicants. 

    If they're attending a two year college they get $1,200 a year, for a four year school, it's $2,400. The very first application was from a girl who became pregnant at 12. "And that was a huge shock for all of us," Nicole said, still reeling from the memory.  "It really brought home for me the need for our program. Because I can't see telling a young woman who's 12 years old that her life is now over.”

    And that was the message Jennifer Ramirez needed to hear.  She was willing to work to assure a better future for herself and her son.  Generation Hope's scholarship definitely helped ease her financial burden.  Still, it's the emotional burden, teen moms will tell you, that can be even worse.  So Generation Hope matches each teen with a mentor.

    Suzanne Simpson, 49, is not the kind of person Jennifer would usually come across; a lawyer and president of the Howard County women's bar association in Maryland.  They both admit that the first time they met, they were both very nervous. Jennifer laughs now, remembering, "But when I saw her, she was wearing all this jewelry. And I was just, like, ‘Oh, we're a match made in heaven.’” 

    And it turns out, though they're more than 20 years apart, their sons are almost the same age.  The boys play together.  They talk.  Jennifer calls Suzanne a role model. Suzanne says she gets back even more than what she gives.  And there's a lesson for everyone in their story, young and old.

    "Everything happens for a reason," said Jennifer, with wisdom beyond her years. "So, take the good, and the bad, and make it great."

    And so she has. Jennifer will get her college degree later this month.  In her heart, she said always knew she could do it.  Generation hope made sure she didn't have to do it, alone.

    Visit http://www.supportgenerationhope.org/ to learn more.

     

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  • Rebuilding careers, one life at a time

    By Jay Blackman
    NBC News producer

    In a nondescript office park in Rockland, Mass., the unemployed can find an oasis. It’s the home of a nonprofit called One Life at a Time, an organization that helps those looking for jobs, but in a different way than the state office of unemployment.  

    "We basically do one-on-one, and what that means is that everybody is an individual," said founder Christine Driscoll O’Neill. "Whatever their needs are… whatever they need to get to that place to be able to be employable again – we do."

    Driscoll O’Neill believes the one-on-one attention that she and her staff are able to provide free of charge is what makes the difference for her clients.  

    O'Neill, who started the organization with the proceeds from a whistleblower lawsuit and hopes to continue supporting it through grants, understands her clients’ pain firsthand.

    "I know what it's like to feel unemployed, I didn't like it," she said. "There wasn't anybody there for me, so I want to be there for all the underemployed and unemployed." The organization has two offices in Massachusetts, but it has helped many people who live out of state, too, by phone and by Skype.

    With a staff of 12, One Life at a Time offers many regular career services, such as resume polishing and help with cover letters, but it doesn’t stop there. In a conference room with a wall of windows, a makeup artist offers advice on what colors to wear to interviews while applying eye liner on Diane, who is out of work for the first time in her career.

    "It's about feeling good about yourself," the makeup artist tells Diane. "Just be yourself. Obviously you want to show some confidence. You know that you're able to do the job, and I think that will go a long way."

    Surrounded by an unemployed teacher, a laid-off senior accountant and a nurse struggling to find work, Driscoll O’Neill holds a group discussion about the importance of self-esteem.

    In another office, career specialist Russell Abbatiello sets up a small video camera in preparation for a mock interview, which puts clients through the process before they have to do it for real. The interviews are recorded to show people how they performed and what they need to work on.  

    Abbatiello is now working with a chemist who has been out of work for more than a year. Not only is he testing her interview skills, but he is also drilling her on everything from how she would deal with an ethical issue to what her advanced degrees would mean to an employer. When the interview is over, they watch the video together, analyzing her performance.

    "It's not always the answers that you give," Abbatiello tells the chemist, "it's how you give the answers."

    For Ted Burns, 53, and a 20-year veteran in the telecommunications industry, the past year has been challenging. With one child in college and another in high school, he is looking for any edge that will get him back into the workforce.

    "I'm  trying to stay as positive as I can, put a smile on and, I know eventually something will come," Burns said. "It's tough, it's a battle, it's a struggle and you just try to stay as positive as you can."

    Burns taps on a keyboard in the organization’s computer lab, where classes are offered to help clients leverage the networking power of social media sites such as Twitter and LinkedIn. Burns already has used LinkedIn to make several connections. (UPDATE: Just this week, with One Life's help, Burns started a new job in his field.)

    Driscoll ONeill says the organization has helped 5,000 people find work, including people such as Jen Guisti, who was laid off from her job as a television producer. Guisti was surprised at how hard it was to find another job.  

    "I  heard it was hard but I didn't think it was going to be like this," she said. "I didn't think I was going to be out of work for so long."

    Guisti says she struggled going the traditional route through the state offices, and found she needed the one-on-one attention that One Life at a Time provides.

    "They were able to help me see things in a different light, and have me go down different paths, and kind of test my skills and test myself," she said. Guisti is now back at work at MK3 Creative, working on corporate videos.

    Even with success stories such as Guisti’s, Driscoll O’Neill knows there is more work to do. To her, the country’s 8.6 percent unemployment rate isn't just a number; it represents millions and millions of people.