Cherish Ministry Inc

Cherish creates life-changing opportunities for pregnant teens and young moms through education, strategic resources, and mentoring. Teen mothers experience alarming rates of sexual and physical abuse, but at Cherish receive the tools to permanently escape the cycle of poverty and violence. Cherish provides baby care items, infant to kindergarten educational resources, life-skills classes, in-home mentoring, spiritual support, positive parenting classes, and job-readiness training. Each young mom at Cherish is empowered to recognize her intrinsic value, create a healthy home for her child, and transform her future.

Drop-In Resource Center
The Cherish Resource Center is a place that young moms and their children can come to learn, play, study for school, access the internet, or meet with their Success Coach. Teen moms can request any baby care items that they need including: cribs, car seats, high chairs, strollers, formula, baby food, clothes, shoes, educational toys, parenting books, and bedding. Computers are available for young moms to complete their school work, and each mom has access to free professional resources including counseling, tax-preparation, child-birth instruction, interview preparation, nutrition education, tutoring, paralegal support, resume writing, and college admission support.

Cherish Life-Skills Classes
Cherish Life-Skills Classes are designed to promote successful independent living for young moms, and give them practical tools to improve their children's quality of life. Each month has a different focus at the Cherish Life-Skills Classes ranging from budgeting, positive parenting, continuing education, conflict-resolution, abuse prevention, and job-readiness. Free child care is provided, and the moms receive new clothing for their children as well as a box of diapers.

Mentoring
Cherish Mentoring is a seven-week in-home program that focuses on emotional wholeness after traumatic events. Mentors travel to the young mother's home to journey through the curriculum Cherish Footsteps. At the conclusion, mentees are celebrated at a Mentoring Graduation event. This program has been extraordinarily effective in increasing the emotional health of trafficked women, victims of intimate partner violence, childhood abuse survivors, and teen mothers.

International Cherish Program
The International Cherish Program serves mothers in refugee camps or war-zones, who are left to parent alone due to loss during a war, sexual assault, or abandonment. Cherish provides resource development classes, home visitation, hygiene products, inspirational material, and food to improve the quality of life of women parenting in distressing environments.

Holiday Events
Each year Cherish hosts holiday celebrations to increase the emotional health of the population we serve. These events give young moms an experience of "family" even if their home of origin does not have the resources to celebrate. These events include: Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas. Each event includes a celebratory meal, gifts, music and a themed celebration. At Christmas, each family is given a session of professional photography, a framed family picture, and a printed set of portraits. All Cherish mothers and children receive customized Christmas gifts that they have requested.