April 29, 1999
A place for teens to call home when they need one
By Cathy Willoughby
Staff Writer
Young pregnant teens can still find a place to call home, when their own is no longer available.
In Upper Sandusky, tucked away in between a restaurant and a store, is a home that shelters unwed mothers, and helps them reach one of the most crucial decisions in their lives.
Bethel Ministries, a not for profit Christian organization, formed the Bethel Home for Unwed Mothers four years ago. Director Sherri Barth was previously a volunteer at the pregnancy center that has been in existence for the past six years, Voice of Hope.
"We have tried to keep ourselves out here as a pro-life ministry,'' she said. "Yet all denominations work in partnership.''
The center and home are governed by a board of trustees representing many different area churches. Through them, they accept donations of funds, baby clothes and maternity needs.
"I like working with teens and helping them make good decisions with their lives,'' Barth said. "Sometimes we can make our own experiences and they make us aware of teens problems and we can help them work through their problems.''
Ten women are active volunteers at the Upper Sandusky facility, five as counselors and the others as office help. The full-time staff consists of the director, an office manager and a married couple that serve as house parents for the teens. "They oversee the teens, so that there is always adult supervision here,'' Barth said.
Teens are home-schooled while at the home, with a licensed teacher coming to the home and conducting classes 9 a.m.-2 p.m. four days out of the week; the fifth day remains open for doctor's appointments.
Teens enter the home through a number of avenues. "If they are 18 and 19 years old, they can sign themselves in,'' she said. "If they are under 18, they can be signed in by a parent, a case worker or a judge can have them sent here. They come from all types of life and home situations.''
When they enter Bethel Home, pregnant teens start a regimen of parenting, finance and adoption classes, as well as abstinence education. The prospective mothers are not influenced to give babies up for adoption, Barth said most choose to keep their children. "We do give them the various options, so that they can see what would be the best choice for their life,'' Barth said. "They can consider if their mom will be able to help, or would they like to have the option of adoption. ''
She said the adoptions are of the open type, with the teens being able to choose the agency. "Then they send a representative, and they take over from there,'' Barth said. "They actually bring over profiles of families. By making adoption more open, the girls feel more comfortable with it. They can get letters and pictures from the adoptive parents, so they know that now the baby is being taken care of.''
"We never push anything on these girls,'' she added. "We just help give them direction to make these decisions. And a lot of love and adult advice. After that, they can choose their own decision.''
Most girls choose to keep their babies. Barth said during the past four years, she has seen only four adoptions go through, and the last two were in the last two months. "These were 17- and 18-year-olds, they just seemed more mature, they seem to want to go on with their schooling and college. But the majority want to keep their babies.''
She said that the majority of the teen mothers return to either their own or foster families.
They are equipped to house five teens at one time, and Barth said there is only once that Bethel has had a waiting list. Most of the time, a steady group of three to four girls await the birth of their babies there.
The home consists of a family room, large kitchen facilities, and two bedrooms the girls share, and a room that is used as their classroom. The remainder of the home is used for office space, or the living space for the houseparents.
"We take the girls age 12 to 19 from all over Ohio,'' Barth said. "Volunteers also man a 24-hour hotline service, five days a week.'' Although local churches donated many needed items, the home does charge girls' families $200 to $250 a month to help cover the expenses of food, utilities, salaries and other needs of the girls. A sliding scale is available for those who are hardship cases. Human Services pays the costs of girls who are currently in foster care.
Each girl is assigned a counselor who meets with them, and a set of workbooks entitled "My Baby and Me,'' which Barth said helps the girls search for the reasons why they make bad choices in their lives.
"A lot of girls come from one-parent families, and although they might be wonderful moms, they work a lot,'' Barth said. "That leaves kids with more freedom and time on their hands. And they run with kids that have more time on their hands.''
Barth said parents are calling the Voice of Hope pregnancy center to seek help for their teens. "Parents are going to our pregnancy centers and parents do call,'' Barth said. "They are making some wonderful decisions for their children; they help walk the girls through what they need.''
The girls attend church weekly with their houseparents, and meet with a youth group on Sunday nights. Bible study is once a week. "Since we are Christian based, we can tell them that God forgives, God loves. And we can see such a change that takes place in these girls, we see them make better decisions,'' Barth said.
The ministry also runs two pregnancy centers, Voice of Hope in Upper Sandusky at (419) 294-2272 and in Galion at (419) 468-1414. The centers offer free pregnancy tests, information on pregnancy, chastity, and alternatives to abortion, referrals to medical care, social services and adoption; maternity clothing and baby items and support for post-abortion women. The hot line number is (419) 294-2272.