Yakima teen mom finds strength from within

By LAURA AGUILERA-FLEMMING
UNLEASHED STAFF

Jennifer Kerney was 17, a senior at Eisenhower High School when she learned she was expecting twins.

Kerney was afraid and didn’t know what to do. She worried about how people would react. She also worried about how to tell her parents.

Now, more than a year and a half later, she says, “You can find a lot of strength in yourself and surprise yourself with what you’re capable of doing.”

Kerney is the mother of two 1-year-olds. She lives with her parents, who are helping her raise her daughters. And she says she isn’t sure what she would do without the help.

“My mom taught me to be a mom,” says Kerney, now a student at Yakima Valley Community College.

She’s no longer dating the twins’ father, but he sees them from time to time. When she’s at school, she leaves her daughters at day care. After school, she picks them up and cares for them until her parents get home from work. She changes their diapers, makes up their bottles, feeds them.

And she’s not alone. According to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, or NCPTP, three out of 10 Americans get pregnant before the age of 20. And eight out of 10 of the fathers of their children aren’t married to the mothers. On average they pay less than $800 a year for child support.

In Yakima County, the birth rate for teenagers is twice the state’s average, according to the state Department of Social and Health Services. Statewide, there were 31 births for every 1,000 teens aged 15 to 19, according to the latest available statistics.

“The best way to prevent teenagers from getting pregnant is education,” says Gina Popovic, director of public affairs for Planned Parenthood of Central Washington. “Parents need to understand that there are ways to learn about how to talk to their children about sex.”

According to the NCPTP, almost 50 percent of teenagers have never considered how pregnancy would affect their lives, and 47 percent of them say their parents have the most influence on their decisions about sex.

But, almost nine out of 10 parents agree that when it comes to talking about sex, they often don’t know what to say, how to say it, or when to start.

“I was shocked, scared and fearful when I found out Jennifer was pregnant,” says her mother, Cindy Kerney.

So was her daughter. Jennifer Kerney had gone to the doctor for a regular check-up, never imagining that she could be pregnant.

Then she had a choice to make: terminate the pregnancy, give up the children for adoption, or to raise the babies.

“You can’t do what other people want you to do,” she says. “You have to do what’s right for you.”

According to Yakima adoption specialist Mary Pleger, “Not to decide is to decide.

“Teenagers in general are not able to project into the future and find it difficult to look past a cute baby that will love them,” she says. “There is a fantasy about the happy ever after.

“Teenagers need to find solutions to their problems instead of letting things happen and having to go through stressful situations over and over again,” Pleger says.

Jennifer Kerney’s parents help her in many ways. She says both of them have taught her how to be a good parent. She says she feels fortunate to have parents that support her.

“Life doesn’t always happen the way you plan it, but as a family you need to support and love each other,” her mom says.

Her advice to other parents whose teenagers become pregnant is to keep in mind that “Everyone is hurt and shocked in the beginning, but they need our support more than they ever did. You need to keep loving and supporting them.”

Before she became a mother, Jennifer Kerney says she wasn’t sure about her dreams or goals. Now, they are clear; she wants to graduate from college, have a successful career, raise her girls and be happy.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. You have to put your children first and you have to sacrifice a lot,” she says. “Some days I feel like it’s too hard, but I get through it, and it’s worth it.”

Jesuit Volunteer Corps: helpful people, to the corps

By LAURA AGUILERA-FLEMMING
UNLEASHED STAFF
Amy Nicola was a Regis University student who wanted to do something different. She wanted to step outside her regular life and see how others lived.
Through her school and professors who made it sound appealing, the 22-year-old learned about the Jesuit Volunteer Corps.
Now she lives with six other young women who have come together to live out the four values of JVC: simplicity, spirituality, social justice and community.
Each one receives about $70 a month for food and volunteers for community services. Once a week, the group has a spirituality night and a community meeting with everyone living in the house. Each volunteer serves at least one year and can add additional years.
“I’ve learned that a lot of people struggle much more than I do, and they’ve made my problems seem small,” says 24-year-old Laura Molina, one of the Yakima volunteers. “JVC has given me a new outlook on life.”
The JVC motto is “Ruined for Life.”
Nicola explains JVC “changes your way of thinking and teaches you how to live simply.”
Rosemary Rief, 69, who works as the communications coordinator at Northwest Harvest and part-time instructor at Yakima Valley Community College, has been involved with the JVC in Yakima for 15 years.
Each year, when new volunteers arrive in Yakima, Rief and her husband, Cy, give them a tour of Yakima, plan monthly potlucks and introduce them to people in the community.
“Over the years I’ve made some wonderful friendships,” she said. “I’ve really enjoyed getting to know the JV members.”
According to Rief, being a support person for the JVC has put purpose into her life.
“It feels so good to be a part of a group that helps the needy,” she says.
Patty Houts-Hussey, a 57-year-old social services worker for nonprofit organizations on Whidbey Island, was a JVC member in Cornelius, Ore., from 1973 to 1974. Ten years later, she worked with JVC area director Matt Fairbank to bring the first four volunteers to Yakima.
“Being a volunteer really expanded my understanding of life and enabled me to try different perspectives that I never dreamed of,” she says.
Houts-Hussey continues to be involved with the JVC in Yakima, Seattle and Portland. She says working with the volunteers has taught her to be idealistic and strong. She admires their creativity, enthusiasm and determination.
This week , JVC Northwest will celebrate its first 25 years in Yakima. Since 1984, there have been 201 JVC members who have served here.
In honor of the 25th anniversary, there will be a weekend-long celebration full of events.
“I hope that former JVs will come to the celebration and get back in touch with their roots in Yakima,” Rief says.
She’s also looking forward to seeing the faces of volunteers from years ago and reuniting with them.
The celebration starts with an informal gathering at Jack-Son’s Sports Bar on Tieton Drive from 8 to 10 p.m. Friday. It continues Saturday morning with coffee and doughnuts from 9 to 11 at the St. Joseph/Marquette School cafeteria, followed by an outing to Spring Barrel Tasting.
The 25th anniversary dinner starts at 5:30 p.m. at Holy Family Parish. After the 9 a.m. Mass on Sunday at St. Joseph Catholic Church, former and current volunteers will take part in a sandwich-making service project.
Jeanne Haster, the 54-year-old executive director of JVC Northwest in Portland, says, “I hope that everyone will come and learn about us and share in the excitement for the 25th anniversary.”

• For more information about the weekend celebration, visit www.jvcnorthwest.org. Tickets for the Saturday night dinner can be purchased from Rosemary Rief by calling 509-453-4107.

• Laura Aguilera-Flemming is a member of the Yakima Herald-Republic’s Unleashed team. She attends La Salle High School.