Increase Support for Young Moms and Girls as Caregivers

Based on the recommendations from the Together We Rise Report, AFG and its member organizations, including the Young Women’s Freedom Center (YWFC), successfully advocated for funding to pilot a program to support young moms in Santa Clara County.

AFG convened a coalition of ten member organizations in Santa Clara County including YWCA Golden Gate Silicon Valley, the Santa Clara County Office of Women’s Policy, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, CARAS, Youth Outreach and Learning Institute, Shine Together (formally Teen Success, Inc.), and more and in partnership with YWFC to advocate for better support for young moms in Santa Clara County. In December 2020, this advocacy work resulted in a commitment of $400,000 in funding for the When Young Mom’s Thrive, We All Do (WYMT) project by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. Between June 2021-2022 the WYMT project, led by YWFC in partnership with AFG, hired five young moms as part of the WYMT design team and engaged 159 young moms in youth participatory action research (YPAR) to identify the needs of young moms and uplift key recommendations to Santa Clara County government to better serve young moms without stigma and discrimination. An accompanying video was created to help shift the narrative about young moms in Santa Clara County to one that centers their experiences and how they see themselves.