Young parents find more than housing at Open Arms

ALBANY — Imagine you are 20 years old, ready to give birth to your first child and you have nowhere to go. No job. No housing. No family support. No idea where to turn to for help.

Fortunately, you do have a pickup truck and a friend who will allow you to park in her driveway at night. So you buy an old mattress and put it in the bed of the truck and that becomes your home for several weeks.

That’s the situation Cheyenne Wilson found herself in just a few months ago. After giving birth to Kaison, who now is 4 months old, Wilson said she continued to live in the back of her truck until December, when she moved into Liberty House, a shelter for women and children, most of whom are victims of domestic violence.

Around that same time, Wilson said she linked up with Open Arms, a shelter and transitional housing program with an outreach focus on homeless youths and young adults. At that time, plans were well underway to open a maternity house and housing for parents with young children.

Rosemary Sims oversees the new transitional housing program for moms-to-be and young parents. On Wednesday, Sims and other Open Arms officials held an open house at their newest transitional housing center, located at 1400 S. Jefferson St. in Albany.

The new housing unit has four apartments, a laundry area, a community center and management offices. While there are other apartments in the complex that are not currently owned by Open Arms, Sims said hopes are that Open Arms may eventually be able to acquire more apartments within the complex.

“Four apartments are a good start,” she said.

Each apartment features two bedrooms, a living room, bathroom and a full-size kitchen. Parents who come to the housing complex are supplied with furniture, cribs, baby items and other necessities to set up housekeeping. The apartments were remodelled, and clients moved in last month. Currently, Wilson and her son Kaison occupy one apartment. A 19-year-old mom with a 3-month-old baby live in another unit. A 19-year-old with a 10-month-old child and another baby due in March occupy another apartment, and the fourth unit is taken by a 19-year-old with a baby due in July.

Sims said the housing is available to young parents, male or female, and moms-to-be ages 16 to 22.

“All four apartments are located in one unit,” she said. “We hope to eventually get more units. Certainly the need is here. All we can do right now is start a waiting list.”

The Open Arms program for young parents is about far more than housing. According to Sims, clients who come into the transitional housing program will get help obtaining their GED and furthering their education, with job training and assistance in securing a job, with parenting skills, with interpersonal skills, with budgeting and money management, with physical and mental health services, with child care so they can work and attend school, with health and nutrition counseling, and with a smorgasbord of other services to help them get on their feet and take care of themselves and their children.

“Our ultimate goal is to help homeless and runaway youths transition successfully into parenting and adulthood,” Sims said. “In order to achieve that goal, our first objective is to provide safe and stable housing, education and employment, and to help them form permanent connections to assure their social and emotional well-being.”

Open Arms partners with numerous local agencies and service providers to offer immediate and long-term care and opportunities for each family.

Wilson, for example, is finishing requirements for her GED and says she plans to enroll in classes at Albany State University in April. She had previously been enrolled in the Turner Job Corps program, where Wilson said she was 98 percent of the way to completing a certified medical assistant (CMA) program when she left due to her pregnancy.

“It was just too hard to study and be ready to have a child and be without anywhere to live,” she said. “You couldn’t really think about anything except where to get your next meal and how to get to medical appointments and how to take care of yourself.”

As temperatures dropped, Wilson said it was hard just to keep herself and her baby warm at night.

“My grandmother paid for one week at a motel when it got below freezing, but otherwise we just bundled up and slept in the back of the truck,” she said.

Wilson, who said she grew up in foster care, had very little family support during the difficult time she faced.

Sims said so many homeless young people in Albany get caught up in just trying to survive.

“Being homeless is hard enough, but it’s even more challenging for those with children,” she said. “That’s why maternity housing has been so desperately needed in our community.”

Wilson said she couldn’t even begin to think about school or employment when each day getting pampers and enough to eat was a challenge. Now, though, she says she is ready to move forward.

Wilson said her training at Turner Job Corps laid the foundation and gave her a passion for health care.

“I plan to study nursing,” she said.

Sims said not only will that career choice provide a good income for Wilson and her child, but it will also give the young mom a chance to live out her passion for helping others.

Asked if she had any advice for other young moms or mothers-to-be who might be on the streets or in need of housing or other assistance, Wilson offered, “Don’t give up.”

“Prayer works … stay prayed up,” she said. “God is going to get you out of that situation. I was homeless, and He gave me a two-bedroom apartment and surrounded me with staff and people who care. I now have an opportunity to go to school and to work toward a career. Don’t give up hope. You and your child are going to get out of that situation.”