Tanisha’s Story

Written by Kate Lucas and Sarah Johnson

“You are amazing.” These simple words of encouragement, on a present given from a YouthLink client to a dedicated staff member, demonstrate the impact an adult can have on a young person’s life. Tanisha*, age 21, was three months pregnant when she first came to visit Kelsey, YouthLink’s family navigator. Through tears, she shared that she had to move out of her transitional housing because it doesn’t allow children. She had no supplies for her baby and she didn’t know where she was going to go. Tanisha had never had a child before and knew little about parenting. She grew up in a toxic family environment and had fallen into a cycle of low income and unstable housing. Over the next six months, Kelsey and Tanisha embarked on a path toward greater and greater self-reliance.

Kelsey helped Tanisha attend parenting classes and secure supplies for her baby including a crib, car seat, breast pump and baby clothes. She connected Tanisha to health care and prenatal services, including the Healthcare for Homeless nurses at our Drop-in center, Way to Grow and First Care Pregnancy, and supported her in securing a full-time job with benefits as a dietary aide at a senior facility. She talked with Tanisha about her trauma growing up with alcoholic parents, how they weren’t there for her as a child, and how she can learn out of those things—she doesn’t have to take those things with her.

And Kelsey supported Tanisha through at least 15 different apartment tours, all over Hennepin County, serving as a steady presence through the discouraging cycle of applying and being denied. “Kelsey encouraged me to keep going and not give up,” said Tanisha. “She drove me around but mostly I appreciated all of her support and just being there for me.” Kelsey helped advocate for Tanisha with landlords and YouthLink offered to pay the first two months of rent in full and a lesser portion for the next four months to help Tanisha get on her feet. When Tanisha came to share the good news that she had been accepted for an apartment, she was positively beaming. She brought along a little goody bag for Kelsey to thank her.

As a final step, Kelsey is helping Tanisha move into her new apartment, just four weeks before her baby is due. “At 21, she is still so young,” says Kelsey, “but she has gone above and beyond. She has gone from knowing hardly anything about parenting to being completely prepared.”

*Client’s name has been changed to protect privacy