Pregnant teens enter parenthood with major concerns, too few resources, questionable information and fear of what the future holds, but with the right support they can have bright futures, says Dr. Shelley Amuh.
Amuh, an obstetrician and gynecologist, is providing that help via her nonprofit The Puddle Project, a mentorship program for pregnant teens and teen parents founded by the Flossmoor resident.
Amuh received the Cook County 2024 Peggy A. Montes Unsung Heroine Award for the Sixth District. The award is presented each March to 18 women, one from each district in the county and one countywide, in observance of Women’s History Month. It was established to tell the story of and honor women who make positive contributions in their communities, families and professional endeavors, but who are seldom recognized.
Amuh, 62, previously was in private practice, is a hospitalist on staff at Advocate Trinity Hospital and Advocate South Suburban Hospital. She has mentored teens in some capacity since she started her medical career, she said.
She launched The Puddle Project in 2015 and said it has three goals for its mentees: that they graduate with a high school diploma; develop healthy lifestyles for themselves and their children; and become responsible parents and working adults.
Services the nonprofit provides include pregnancy education, childbirth classes, risk counseling and information on good nutrition, appropriate exercise, breast feeding, postpartum health and financial literacy. It also helps connect mentees to career development and employment assistance and provides emotional and social support, said Amuh.
Mentees, who must complete an application, are required to work hard to get good grades, participate in program seminars and to have a library card, said Amuh.
“Part of their agreement with us is they have to read to their baby every night, so we expect them to go to the library,” she said.
She said research has shown reading to children on a regular basis helps better position them for success in school.
Mentors, who must also apply to the program and successfully complete a background check, touch base at least once or twice by telephone with their mentees and are required to meet with them in person once a month, but often are in contact three to four times a month, Amuh said.
At in-person meetings, mentees are given $100 Walmart or Target gift cards and a child board book. Meetings typically take place at mentees schools, at the Thornton Township High School District 205 Infant Care Center or at a public library, Amuh said.
As the teens prepare to graduate from high school, “we encourage them to go to college or some kind of training program that will give them the opportunity for great employment,” she said.
The Puddle Project, which is funded with personal donations and grants, has worked one-on-one with more than two dozen girls since its inception. It has six students in college, three students at Thornton Township High School District 205 and 10 students at Simpson Academy for Young Women, which is the only fully accredited Chicago Public School devoted to educating pregnant and parenting teens, said Amuh.
The Puddle Project also does lectures and parenting sessions to help support students at Simpson Academy, she said.
Jonah Richards, from left, Jhamese Willis and Dr. Shelley Amuh in Oct. 2012. Richards is the son of Jhamese Willis. (Shelley Amuh)
Homewood-Flossmoor High School graduate Jhamese Willis was Amuh’s first mentee in the program. Willis met Amuh when she was a junior in high school and pregnant with her son Jonah Richards. After graduating from high school, Willis said she received training as a certified nursing assistant and as an aesthetician. Today, at age 27 and the mother of two sons, she runs her own skin care business and sells a vegan skin care line she developed.
“I’m also going to go back to school for nursing to advance my aesthetic career,” Willis shared.
Having Amuh as a mentor “has definitely helped me a lot navigating motherhood and becoming the woman I am now,” said Willis. “Whether helping with financial resources, helping with my boys, providing books for the boys, she continues to be an inspiration for me and with my business. I can reach out for different things, for encouragement.
“Becoming a mom at a younger age was not easy but having her there made it seem less impossible for me, having her push me and guide me through the way.”
Xiomaria Williams, 19, echoed similar sentiments. She became a mentee in the program after the birth of her daughter Meh’Lani Mitchell and while attending Simpson Academy. Today, she is enrolled in a nursing program at Malcolm X College, has a long-term goal of becoming a registered nurse and works as a rehab aide in Rush University Medical Center’s physical therapy department, she said.
Asked what key lessons she has learned through the mentorship program, she said, “Just keep going no matter what. Some kids, depending on their outside support system, wonder how they are going to do it,” she said. “This program comes in and supports in a way they can.”
Amuh is a true reflection of what the unsung heroine award is all about, said Cook County 6th District Commissioner Donna Miller. Amuh saw a need and took action that is helping teens stay in school, stay healthy, deliver healthy babies and preparing them to live successful lives, Miller said.
First-time parenthood isn’t easy for anyone, particularly for teens juggling trying to stay in school, manage new financial situations, provide a steady income, and access crucial health care services, Miller noted.
“Teenagers navigating parenthood can face so much stigma at a time when they’re often very vulnerable, and that’s why Dr. Amuh’s work as founder of The Puddle Project is so important.”
The Heroine awards are named in honor of Peggy Montes, an educator, founder of the Bronzeville Children’s Museum and champion of women’s issues and rights. Montes is a former chairperson of the Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues and was the driving force behind the very first Unsung Heroine Award for the women of Cook County.
Amuh was honored to have received an award. The mother of five said she met Montes about 25 years ago when she first started taking her children to the Bronzeville Children’s Museum. She never imagined decades later she would receive an award named in Montes’ honor.
Amuh said her goals going forward are to double the number of teens The Puddle Project assists. For more information on the program and the application process for teens and mentors, contact Amuh at Samuh@thepuddleproject.org and go to ThePuddleProject.org.
Francine Knowles is a freelance columnist for the Daily Southtown.
