YOUNG, UNMARRIED AND PREGNANT ELIZABETH HOUSE OFFERS WOMEN A SAFE HAVEN.Byline: Valerie Kuklenski Staff Writer Kyley, a 20-year-old long-legged beauty, stood in a gleaming white kitchen, tossing toss v. tossed, toss·ing, toss·es v.tr. 1. To throw lightly or casually or with a sudden slight jerk: tossed the shirt on the floor. See Synonyms at throw. chicken and salsa in a Crock-Pot for dinner as she recalled the time a family-life teacher in high school saddled her with a wailing mechanical baby for two weeks. Because Kyley (who, like the other young women in this story, did not want to give her last name) had experience helping at home with a younger sister, the teacher programmed the robot baby with some extra challenges -- colic colic, intense pain caused by spasmodic contractions of one of the hollow organs, e.g., the stomach, intestine, gall bladder, ureter, or oviduct. The cause of colic is irritation and/or obstruction, and the irritant and/or obstruction may be a stone (as in the gall and the effects of its mother's drug abuse. ``I wanted to throw that thing,'' she recalled. ``This baby woke me up I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. how many times in the middle of the night. I'm thinking, `OK, all babies are not like this.''' Upstairs in Kyley's room there is a bulletin board adorned a·dorn tr.v. a·dorned, a·dorn·ing, a·dorns 1. To lend beauty to: "the pale mimosas that adorned the favorite promenade" Ronald Firbank. 2. with a couple of recent ultrasound ultrasound or sonography, in medicine, technique that uses sound waves to study and treat hard-to-reach body areas. In scanning with ultrasound, high-frequency sound waves are transmitted to the area of interest and the returning echoes recorded images and a newborn-size black onesie imprinted im·print tr.v. im·print·ed, im·print·ing, im·prints 1. To produce (a mark or pattern) on a surface by pressure. 2. To produce a mark on (a surface) by pressure. 3. with ``My mom rocks.'' She sounded far more hopeful -- and tender -- as she talked about the boy she expects to deliver in October. ``At first, when I found out (about the pregnancy), it was like, OK, because I didn't care what it was as long as it was healthy,'' she said, holding one of those ultrasound prints. ``And now, just to be able to say `my son,' it's pretty exciting.'' Kyley is a resident of Elizabeth House, a nonprofit A corporation or an association that conducts business for the benefit of the general public without shareholders and without a profit motive. Nonprofits are also called not-for-profit corporations. Nonprofit corporations are created according to state law. Christian-based refuge for homeless pregnant women and one of only a few places that welcomes the mothers' other children under age 5. The house had no little ones young children. See also: Little in it on Tuesday, but it had been a cacophony of cries and giggles last week until five mothers and their children moved on. This Sunday, the moms who are there will mark Mother's Day in this safe haven 1. Designated area(s) to which noncombatants of the United States Government's responsibility and commercial vehicles and materiel may be evacuated during a domestic or other valid emergency. 2. by opening donated gift bags. The organization, operated in a clean, comfortable Craftsman-style house on a shady Pasadena side street, gives its residents access to prenatal care prenatal care, n the health care provided the mother and fetus before childbirth. as well as counseling, supervision of a social worker and classes in health, money management and parenting. It is run by Terry Bright, by title its executive director, but in spirit its house mother. With a small staff, she sees to the fund raising, the admission processes and the day-to-day operations, but she remains a maternal figure firm in discipline and generous with love. Elizabeth House can shelter up to six women with newborns or preschoolers, and Bright and her staff are in regular contact in any given week with a dozen or more recent graduates seeking assistance as they make their way into self-sufficient motherhood. Kyley may have a smoother path than most women there, with a boyfriend she plans to marry, some supportive relatives and solid work experience. But Bright says an alarmingly high number of the women she takes in have been physically or sexually abused. About a third of the residents come from the foster system and tend to become pregnant not long after they are discharged from the state's care at age 18. Priscilla, 20, had been through several foster homes since age 7, and tried another shelter briefly before transferring to Elizabeth House, which she has found to be a more peaceful, constructive setting in which to prepare for her son's birth in July. ``They really do want to help,'' she said of the Elizabeth staff. ``It's not for the money. I was in foster care for 10 years, so you really can tell a difference when they're in it for the money, or they really don't care
"Don't Care" is a 1994 (see 1994 in music) single by American death metal band Obituary. , or they really want to help you.'' She would rather smile warmly in anticipation of her first Mother's Day and a better future with her baby than look back in anger at the circumstances that led her to this point. ``Whatever you go through, it only makes you stronger in life.'' Bright keeps in touch with graduates by hosting a Christmas party and a summer carnival The Summer Carnaval (Dutch:Zomercarnaval) is a yearly event in Rotterdam and Arnhem that mimics the Carnaval of South- Latin-America and the Cape Verde Islands. In the cold, Dutch climate Carnival often is held in the Winter. celebrating the anniversary of Elizabeth House's 1994 opening. It's her policy to shelter a woman only once, but she will advise her as often as necessary for years to come. ``I believe it's kind of like your kids,'' she said. ``You release them and let them go, but you're still at home waiting if they need you, in a way. And that's kind of us. We're still at home waiting if they need us.'' For more information, visit www.elizabethhouse.net. Valerie Kuklenski, (818) 713-3750 valerie.kuklenski(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- 2) Single moms-to-be Kyley, left, and Priscilla will celebrate Mother's Day at Elizabeth House this weekend. John McCoy/Staff Photographer (3) - Terry Bright Elizabeth House executive director |
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