Stories

Marsha, 22, is the single mother of a four year old boy, and is a full-time college student without a job. She has no health insurance and cannot afford prenatal care. In addition, she has been enduring severe abdominal pain and is afraid the pregnancy is not normal. Her boyfriend, also a college student, helped her put together $280 for her $600 abortion.

Paula is 35, a nurse and the mother of 5. Her husband, an incorrigible alcoholic, had lost his job and drained the family’s savings. She worried that the stress of her circumstances was already making her lash out inappropriately at her children. How could she manage another – a newborn, with all the attendant expense, sleep deprivation and demand for attention?

Anna, 21 and happily pregnant, became so ill from the pregnancy that she was forced to quit her job. Then her husband was deported to Haiti and she has no idea if or when she will even talk to him again. With her husband and source of income gone, Anna was evicted from her apartment. Now homeless, Anna felt she could not have a child.

Susan, 15 , has bipolar depression. Last year she made the honor role. This year she became addicted to drugs, stopped taking her medication and was raped twice.

Shania is 35 years old, carrying twins and diagnosed with cervical cancer. The social worker who brought her to WEN brought us Shania's 17-year-old daughter at the same time.
 

Lizbeth is 17, an orphan caring for four siblings and struggling to finish high school while she works nights at McDonalds.

Jackie is 22, the single mother of 4. She left school at age 15, when she was pregnant with her first child, and subsequently had three more. She was supporting her family working for a cleaning service and making $6.00 an hour. Then the cleaning service went out of business. When Jackie came to WEN, she had been unemployed and looking for work for two months. She had spent all the money her family could afford to lend her and had been evicted from her apartment.

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