The Care Center

Our goal is to help young mothers and low-income women get to and through college by creating an environment where they can succeed.

Our first priority is to change young women’s minds about what is possible. If you have dropped out of school and had a baby, no one in your family has been to college, the world tells you that you have already failed—college and the opportunities that come with it seem impossible. So how do we change this? At the high school-level, we reignite a passion for learning through photography, theater, poetry, sculpture, painting, and rowing. Rigorous HiSET (GED) preparation, college exposure, and persistent messages about the importance of higher education prepare students for college. At the college-level we combine tuition-free, high quality college courses with built-in supports for young mothers: daycare, transportation, meals, and an onsite nurse practitioner.

The result? Women who never imagined they would get to college are receiving associate degrees from Bard College and completing their bachelor’s degrees at Smith College and Mount Holyoke College. They are reading the latest translation of Homer’s Odyssey and publishing articles in Oprah Magazine. They have internships at the Mayor’s Office and plans to become architects.

As The Care Center evolves over the next five years, four fundamental facts, supported by research studies and our own experience, will drive our development:

1. Educational attainment, and particularly postsecondary education, significantly increases the likelihood that low-income young mothers, as well as other marginalized individuals in the community, will earn a living wage throughout their lives, be able to support their families, and attain self-sufficiency. Education is also associated with improved health and increased civic participation, and it bears significant consequences for the next generation, as parental achievement is a strong predictor of children’s achievement, college-going rates, and future income.

2. Like non-parenting youth, teen parents not only benefit, but also flourish, when engaged in interesting, challenging, and inspiring activities and educational programs that build self-esteem and instill feelings of competence, self-worth, and hope in the future.

3. Low-income young mothers and other disadvantaged youth and older women can achieve at the same academic level as students in more affluent communities when given access to comparable opportunities and resources.

4. Too few academic and personal supports exist for Care Center graduates who advance to college. As a result, too many capable students enrolled in college are unable to complete their first year or obtain a college degree.

Most Care Center students have extremely challenging personal histories. All live on a low income and many also cope with homelessness, domestic violence, and food insecurity. To help remove barriers that can prevent students from fully participating, The Care Center provides:

Transportation: The Care Center provides door-to-door transportation for students and their children. Mothers and children are picked up in the morning and transported home in the afternoon. Any child enrolled at another day care center is transported there with the parent.

Day Care: Our on-site state-licensed day care facility has the capacity for up to 25 infants and toddlers each day and is free for current students and graduates in college. The classrooms foster early literacy through reading, singing, storytelling, and art projects.

Counseling, Medical Care and Food: Experienced counselors help students set and achieve academic and personal goals. Counselors also help students address challenges with housing and other basic needs. The Care Center has a nurse practitioner on staff five mornings a week, offering medical care to students and their children. The Care Center also partners with ForsynthKids to offer free dental services for students and their children. We also offer healthy meals and snacks.