can overcome. I promised my mother and myself that I would fi nish college.” A tumultuous relationship with
her former boyfriend and on-going arguments with her parents caused Lewis to leave her parents’ home to fend for herself amidst a tumultuous relationship with Nerissa’s father. Prior to her pregnancy, Lewis had been accepted to
several colleges. When she opted to re-open her applica- tions and fi nish the enrollment process, Lewis didn’t have an address to put on the application. “I was homeless. I had been moving from place to place, but
I knew that I wanted to go to college,” Lewis says. “I turned in my applications and started classes at [Virginia’s College of] William and Mary when my daughter was three months old.” Lewis graduated in four years with a degree in English in
2003, but it wasn’t easy. She encountered several challenges as a single parent on campus with few familial resources. T e single mom lived in a family housing apartment
on campus. “T ere were many nights I was up studying for an exam,
and my daughter was teething. Or I had to deal with her having a cold and not wanting to miss class,” she says. “Financially, I had to live off of loans and grants in order to pay for our rent, the food, her daycare, and my books. It was a very diffi cult time.” After college, Lewis landed a media relations job with
auto-insurance provider Geico. “I realized how much a college degree had changed my
life and changed my daughter’s life,” says Lewis. She went from having no food to conducting business with some of the most successful business people in the world. T e impact that Generation Hope has made in the life of
Chacon and others fuels Lewis to help more parents. But throwing money at teen parents doesn’t solve every prob- lem, Lewis says. “If your tuition is paid, but you have to deal with a teething
child and you’re at your wit’s end and you have to take an exam the next day, no money in the world is going to solve that issue for you,” Lewis says. “But if you have someone you can call
MCCA.COM
[who tells you] ‘I believe in you. You can do this. Let’s fi gure this out together,’ that’s going to make a really big diff erence.” To foster strong mentee- and-mentor relationships,
Generation Hope has established a few simple rules. Students are required to check in with their mentors every other week. Mentors and mentees are also required to meet in person once every month. Generation Hope also hosts a number of events such as pumpkin picking for teen parents, their children, and their mentors to bond. Generation Hope hosts fundraisers throughout the year.
T e organization taps into several funding streams to help keep the teen parents in school and operational costs low. It received $50,000 from the Summit Fund of Washington, a group that provides fi nancial support for organizations that bring about measurable improvement in the quality of life within the Washington community. “We’re not a fully funded organization, and we’re defi -
nitely pushing hard for funding,” Lewis says. Lewis is quick to note that she wasn’t the stereotypical
teen mom. While arguments and disagreements happened frequently in her home, Lewis’ parents were married and education was stressed. Lewis wants people to abandon the stereotype of unmo-
tivated, rebellious teens that is so frequently embraced by the larger society in relation to teen pregnancy. “We have scholars in our program who are aspiring
teachers, doctors, and computer engineers,” says Lewis. “T ey are extremely dedicated and talented individuals.” Lewis adds, “We have scholars in our program working
two and three jobs in addition to being a full-time mom and a full-time student.” Happily married for nearly fi ve years and mother to
another daughter, 2-year-old Naya, Lewis is proof that teen parents can fulfi ll their dreams. D&B
Michelle Nealy is a freelance writer and videographer based in Chicago.
JULY/AUGUST 2012 DIVERSITY & THE BAR®
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