Angelic Ladies Society treats teen moms
THE Angelic Ladies Society (ALS) Limited coordinated the second staging of its career empowerment session, dubbed Labour of Love, at the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation Morant Bay centre on May 19, under the theme ‘The power of a skill’.
Last year ALS engaged five teen moms and 14 pregnant teenagers on how to write the perfect résumé, improve their interview skills, and reminded them of the hope that lies in second chances.
This year, for 19 teen moms in St Thomas, the focus was on not just gaining a skill, but on the value of monetising the skills and what that could mean for their financial future.
First, St Thomas native and past student of the Women’s Centre, Crooxcine Cooper-Mayes, shared her story of getting pregnant at 16. With a centre manager that showed interest and support, Cooper-Mayes said she was able to fight off shame and embarrassment as well as ridiculing from community members to create an environment that afforded success.
The girls cheered when they heard that she was now a published author, ordained minister, and life coach
Courtney McIntosh, owner of Creole Beauty, shared with the girls on the power of monetising their skills. A survivor of sexual trauma who had no idea she was good at sewing and that she could actually make money from it, McIntosh had turned to sewing as a way to release her feelings of hurt and frustration.
She shared with the girls how resourceful “YouTube university” was in helping to provide lessons, from stringing the sewing machine to techniques on making satin bonnets, scrunchies, and satin sleepwear.
At the end of her session, McIntosh gifted 24 pairs of individually packaged items, which were added to each girl’s personal care gift bag.
For his part, Gerald A Gordon, award-winning photographer and Prime Minister’s Youth Award nominee, who hails from a violence-prone community in St Catherine, said he observed from the sidelines the pain and disappointment his sister experienced being a teenage mother. Her babyfather had disappeared, and Gordon openly revealed to the girls that he had wondered at one point how the guy must have felt, what could have been some of his emotions, and suggested that they too consider these things as they navigate parenting with or without a co-parent.
He also shared with the girls that he was a self-taught photographer and had turned to photography at an early age as a way of staying out of trouble.
Gordon used the opportunity to educate the young ladies on the value of mentoring, experimenting, and exploring in their individual skilled areas. He affirmed that through mentorship and following a few other creatives on social media, his own experimenting and exploring, he was now a professional, trained, and certified conceptual photographer and had got both local and international recognition and awards as a result of his hard work and dedication.
He offfered a free open pass for all girls in attendance to participate in his one-day beginners’ photography workshop in Kingston. He also presented a gift certificate valued at $34,000 for a mommy and me photoshoot to one lucky teen mom.
After a brief talk from Monique Fitzgerald, rural sociologist from the Bureau of Gender Affairs on gender-based violence, and a quick guide on how to certify their skills and courses being offered at the HEART/NSTA Trust in Morant Bay by Leighton Gregory, recruitment officer, the girls were gifted personal care packages donated from the public, the Gerald A Gordon Faith Foundation, the Bureau of Gender Affairs, Grace WB Snacks, Mega Marketing, Macau Restaurant, and the National Housing Trust. After lunch, they headed to the Angelic Ladies Society’s annual Angels Oasis Boutique Pop-Up Store, where they were allowed to select clothing for their babies and themselves, as well as jewellery, shoes, and handbags.
