Category Archives: Young Moms

This month we are excited to feature one of our most dedicated community members, Shannissy Catron. Shannissy has been a doula with the YWRC since 2017 and has played a significant role in the program. One of the things we appreciate most about Shannissy is her ability to see participants as unique individuals and highlight […]

This month, we are excited to spotlight one of the newest YWRC staff members, Christine Tucker! Christine joined the team in April of 2021 as part of our Young Moms Program. While she hasn’t been here long, Christine has already made a meaningful impact in the lives of many participants. “I am the Young Moms […]

Tera Hamann is a vital part of the our community and we are excited to celebrate her this month! Tera has been with Broadlawns Medical Center for three years as an OB floor nurse and lactation consultant. Her plan when she was hired was to build a much needed lactation program to help increase access […]

Empowering clients to self-advocate is a key part of being a YWRC doula. Working on birth plans, providing information about their rights during birth, and talking through options with clients are ways we help them prepare for conversations with healthcare providers. As part of Black Maternal Health Week, our doulas wanted to share a few […]

2019 has been a great year for new beginnings, whether it’s from starting programs or creating new positions. As we wrap up the year, we wanted to take a moment to celebrate these changes. Here are a few examples of how we’ve grown: High School Credit Recovery Program In partnership with the Des Moines Public […]

We are excited to spotlight one of our newer team members this month, Klarque Denman! Klarque is part of our Young Moms team as a Childbirth and Perinatal Specialist. She is also a doula and supervises the YWRC’s doula program. “I strive to help young moms with their needs, questions and overall success! I go […]

About a month ago, our Childbirth & Perinatal Specialist Ashley posed this question to our Young Moms participants: “What challenge have you faced as a young parent (housing, economic, education, health, etc.) and how did you overcome it. What helped you?” In celebration of the strength, resiliency and perseverance of our young moms, we’d like to […]

We are excited to celebrate one of our hard working, dedicated and kind staff members this month, Ashley Ezzio. Ashley has been part of the Young Women’s Resource Center team for a little more than two years as our Childbirth and Perinatal Specialist. A main component of her role is to facilitate a weekly pregnancy […]

Danielle began her journey with the YWRC when she was referred to our Young Moms program through a counselor at North High School; she was pregnant and 14 years old. We have been honored to see her grow over the last eight years into the nurturing, responsible and successful mother she is today. Danielle officially […]

We are excited to share with you two new tools we’ve developed in the past year to better serve our girls and young women: the Youth Experiences Survey (YES) and the YWRC Resiliency Survey. We are proud to be a leading agency in youth-specific trauma and resiliency research and look forward to sharing these tools […]