Bella's Story
Bella (she/they) is a 22-year-old trans mother who gives their all to their family. Their story to find a safe, stable housing for their partner and two children depicts how the broken housing system forces young families to experience homelessness and live in unsafe places. Their experience with the foster care system also shows how the system doesn’t prepare youth to transition into mainstream society, and how discrimination towards trans youth results in an even steeper climb to adulthood and parenthood. The story is told from the perspective of Nora (she/her), a case manager from the Nurse-Family Partnership program, who helped and supported Bella through some of the toughest times in their journey.
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How You Can Help
To learn how you can begin to help other young parents like Bella, visit the Journey to Success campaign website.
Acknowledgment
Thank you, Bella, for graciously lending your time to share your story with us, and allowing us to take a peek at a slice of your life. Your experiences, insights, and suggestions have shaped and redefined the conversations around young parents, and we hope that this story continues to do so.
Thank you to the Annie E. Casey Foundation for funding this project, and to Journey to Success for being a partner.
Thank you to artist Tony Midi and to DALL·E for the creation of our illustrations. Lastly, thank you to those who was involved in the revision of this story and to those who helped make this story possible.
Suggested Citation
Natalie, P., Arroyo, I., Fishbein, J., Garrido, M., Sufrinko, N., & Cowsert, M. (2023). Young Parents Stories. Healthy Teen Network. https://www.healthyteennetwork.org/resources/young-parents-stories/bella
