To address these problems a wide variety of programs and classes, some unique, have been set up. Coordinator of volunteers Sheila Miller stresses that all the activities are seen as related to education.

Two pre-natal groups - one for mothers taught by a Jessie's counselor and a public health nurse, the other for couples and taught by Jessie's clinical nurse and a Children's Aid Society male worker - instruct expectant teens weekly about health issues, hospital procedures, new-born care and exercising. "How do your children grow?" is a weekly program teaching about child development and parenting. A support group for couples was started in February. A Tuesday afternoon medical clinic run by Mount Sinai Hospital Family Practice Unit on the premises augments the services of the clinical nurse. "Mothers are people", another weekly program, offers a music circle, infant stimulation and a support group for mothers, focusing on their needs as women.

Two social programs, the supper club and the craft group, offer mothers and children the opportunity to relax and get together while at the same time learning valuable cooking, nutritional budgeting and sewing skills.

During all these activities, nursery childcare is available at Jessie's and provided either by staff, or by the Men's Childcare Collective.

In the past, the Board of Education provided a part-time teacher specialist who conducted classes in math and English upgrading, and counseling and referrals. Students set their goals. In future, there will be a full-time teacher who in addition to upgrading will also offer small group and one to one classes, and help develop educational projects using relevant materials As well as structured learning, it is hoped that the educational program will offer explorations of students' visions for their new world, using positive fantasizing, theatre, music and story-telling. "We need to create a sense of their past and futures in learning" said Ms. Miller. Many of the 50 women visiting the Centre each week have not been attending school for two or three years, or if they have, their schooling has been sporadic. Many have been living in various homes and settings, or "on the street." Some women using Jessie's education facility are simply unable to make the commitment to attend a school. Others want high school credits but can't yet "see" putting their children in daycare. The facility at Jessie's allows these women the time and attention to explore their choices concerning education and job training.

Sheila Miller spoke of the education process at Jessie's in all its forms as essential to guiding adolescent mothers to a new life. "Pregnancy in teens is strongly related to their having no sense of self-worth, choices or power." Many see the traditional role of motherhood as the only way to be recognized and identified as an adult. The services, she said, help a young woman to see that she has some power -" that she does not have to give it all over to an agency - she can earn that her opinions, values and input are important. The program encourages participants to offer input on matters that affect their lives; for example helping to compose letters of concern to themselves which will be sent by , Jessie's to other agencies such as the Parole Board. "We strive to create a cognitive state of awareness" Ms. Miller explained, saying that even at the expense of measured concrete learning, these women must be acquire a sense of them-selves and their goals.

All staff members participate in the extensive counseling service, both on a formal and informal basis. Clients make their own choice about who they wish to be counseled by. The homey atmosphere is augmented by the availability of healthy snacks, a laundry, and emergency supplies of diapers and personal hygiene items.