Margaret Hudson Teen Moms Fund

The Margaret Hudson Program (MHP) provides wraparound supportive services to help pregnant and parenting teen girls graduate from high school and raise healthy families. Our local nonprofit (501c3) organization (EIN: 730793181) helps pregnant teen girls achieve healthy pregnancies, deliver healthy babies and learn the skills needed to be a capable parent. At our school in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, we serve approximately 140 teen girls each year. We have served more than 10,000 multicultural teen moms since our founding in 1968.

Last August, MHP received the unexpected news that we would no longer receive annual Tulsa Area United Way funding. In calendar year 2016, we received $385,000 of United Way funding to help support our health, counseling, childcare and health case management services. The United Way said the reason for eliminating our funding support was based on an expectation that its partner organizations should not overly rely on United Way funding. In addition to MHP, the United Way eliminated also annual funding of the Oklahoma Visiting Nurses Association. Over the past few years, MHP has reduced the share of our annual budget funded by the United Way down to 18 percent of total fiscal budget.

In addition to coping with the loss of the United Way funding, MHP is also grappling with the impact of state budget cuts made last year, which resulted in the loss of $385,990 of annual Oklahoma Early Childhood Program (OECP) funding from the Department of Education.

In response to the combined loss of the United Way and OECP funding, the MHP Board of Directors implemented a set of immediate cost-saving measures. The loss of the OECP funding required us to cut the capacity of our childcare program – we are now only able to serve 14 infants and toddlers per day at our Broken Arrow campus. We have restructured our student counseling program and now use two community mental health contractors, eliminating three former counselor positions. We have also made significant cutbacks to our administrative staffing levels.

To close the fiscal year in the “black,” MHP needs to secure a total of $411,919 in donations, fundraising and philanthropic support. The current annual budget totals $1.8 million, down from $2.4 million last year. Through our partnerships with Broken Arrow Public Schools, MHP receives annual educational staff support valued at $641,195 on an in-kind, no cost basis.

MHP operates with a diverse set sources of funding that include government grants and contracts, individual, business and faith contributors, and philanthropic support. If the Margaret Hudson Program is unable to raise sufficient funds to operate without a deficit, it will be forced to make further cuts in program services and reductions in staffing.

Moving forward, a major fundraising effort is currently underway to increase the amount of annual charitable donations received by the Margaret Hudson Program. Multiple fundraising strategies are being pursued, including public awareness and fundraising events, an annual pledge campaign and this GoFundMe account.

Our GoFundMe goal of $200,000 will make up the difference for the funds cut from our budget by the United Way in our current fiscal year. We request your generous contribution to the Margaret Hudson Program to help ensure Tulsa area teen mothers get the care and education they need and deserve. Our donors make a life-changing difference for generations to come.

More about us. The Margaret Hudson Program provides comprehensive services in five core areas: academic education, counseling and social services, health supervision, early childhood education and community outreach services. Pediatric health supervision, immunizations and developmental guidance are provided to the babies and young children of our students. In addition to prenatal and maternal care, our teen students receive family planning counseling and access to birth control to prevent additional teen births. There is no charge to attend classes at our alternative school campus in Broken Arrow.

For more information about the Margaret Hudson Program, please visit our website: www.margarethudson.org
visit our Facebook page: The Official Margaret Hudson Program
tweet us: @MargaretHudsonP

The Margaret Hudson Program helps teen families achieve lifelong success
Our campus is located at  751 W. Knoxville St. in Broken Arrow.

The Margaret Hudson Program makes a strong and lasting positive difference in the lives of Tulsa area pregnant and parenting teens. We help create healthy, prosperous futures for teen mothers and their families. Our nonprofit agency uses a comprehensive approach to help adolescent moms stay in school, graduate, raise healthy children and support stable, nurturing families. 

The Margaret Hudson Program helps pregnant and parenting teens:
• Give birth to healthy babies
• Raise happy infants and toddlers
• Master effective parenting techniques and child development concepts
• Learn life skills for success
• Graduate from high school with a full diploma
• Develop career goals and prepare for secondary school studies

The Margaret Hudson Program partners with the Broken Arrow Public School systems to provide accredited academic instruction –always providing services on a tuition-free, no-cost basis. Pregnant students from other school districts can also request a transfer to attend our program. Our professional staff provides academic counseling to help pregnant and parenting teen girls graduate from high school, develop career goals and pursue postsecondary studies at local colleges, vocational schools or apprenticeship programs. Our program collaborates with a network of partner organizations to facilitate student access to a wide array of supportive health and social services available in the community.

The Margaret Hudson Program helps prepare teen mothers to raise healthy babies and be good parents.  Our program strengthens emotional resiliency and provides health guidance to help pregnant teens deliver healthy babies and learn effective parenting and child development concepts.

Teen mothers face many life challenges and often experience significant emotional stress. According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, postpartum depression is more than twice as likely to be reported by teen moms as mothers age 35 or older. When teen moms describe their depression, they speak of suddenly realizing motherhood, feeling abandoned and rejected by their families and classmates, and feeling torn between motherhood and schoolwork. Fortunately for the teen girls who attend school at the Margaret Hudson Program, our nurses and therapeutic counselors are available to help them capably manage their emotional and behavioral health needs.

Margaret Hudson helps teen moms avoid second teen pregnancies. Nationally, about 25% of teen mothers have a second teen birth. To prevent subsequent teen births. Margaret Hudson students receive family planning counseling and access to contraception services, including long-term birth control.

Without access to wraparound support services, like the services provided by the Margaret Hudson Program, more teen mothers would drop out of school and perpetuate a cycle of poverty and under education. Through the generous support of our donors and community partners, the Margaret Hudson Program is able to help teen mothers acquire the skills they need to support and nurture their families.

Every contribution made to the Margaret Hudson Program supports teen mothers and their babies.

Our donors make a life-changing difference for generations to come.