Why We Exist
We believe in the strength, skills, and potential of all families and communities to pursue and achieve their goals.
At New Moms, young moms, 24 and under, take powerful first steps toward economic mobility and family well-being. Our 2-Generation approach puts families experiencing poverty in control of their goals and unleashes their potential.
We partner with families to construct the foundation of well-being by strengthening core life skills, incorporating early childhood development supports, building pathways to and preparation for education and employment, and expanding positive social networks and access to community resources.
It’s not easy: institutional and systemic racism perpetrated against Black and Brown people, bias against adolescent moms, and disinvestment in communities of color sends a harmful message to young families. Living in poverty and experiencing scarcity can impact brain development and take a toll on long-term individual and community health. Although 97% of the young families that come to New Moms are experiencing poverty, all of them seek a future of shared prosperity with their children.
Time is of the essence in our work. Brain science research indicates that there are three periods of life in which the brain develops most rapidly: early childhood, adolescence, and when someone becomes a new parent. Our work is at the intersection of all three. For young moms whose home or school experiences didn’t build in strong skills, becoming a new parent offers a chance to remodel the brain architecture and unlock opportunity for themselves and their young children.
New Moms bolsters this crucial period of time in a young mom’s life. We use brain and behavioral science insights to improve our programming. We partner with young moms as they take powerful first steps towards achieving their goals and constructing strong foundations for the future of their families and communities.
