FARMINGTON – Jessica Mitchell is 16. Her baby is due in December.

She thought she’d found a place where she could learn parenting, a place where she felt safe, a new family who could identify with her situation.

The announcement Wednesday at Kerr House changed that for her and three other young mothers living there. Teens and staff members cried when they learned that the group home for young pregnant and parenting mothers is closing.

“We all took it hard,” she said. “It’s really a nice place. They help you with everything.”

She went out Thursday to ask for donations from businesses in an attempt to keep the home open.

“I don’t want to end up in a place where my kid could get taken away,” Mitchell said. “I want a safe place for me and my child.”

Mitchell came to Kerr House a week ago after living with her grandmother in Skowhegan. Her mother has remarried, already has four other children in her household and is expecting a child in July.

Mitchell had lived with her dad until he was called to active duty in Iraq earlier this year as a commander of the National Guard 133rd Engineer Battalion.

She said the father of her child is not in the picture.

It was her decision, Mitchell said, to move to Kerr House, to meet new people and change her surroundings.

“I’m learning what I need to know to be a mom,” Mitchell said. “They have you cook … so you have the responsibility of what I need to know when I am on my own.’

Though she’s only been there a short time, she has learned a lot.

“I feel I’ve grown a lot more mature since I’ve been here,” she said. “I’m starting to think about things like what’s best for me, what’s best for the baby.”

She likes the other teens and is getting to know the staff. “They make you feel like it’s your home.”

Now she’s worried about the future. The young mothers are trying to keep each other busy so they don’t dwell on losing their home.

“I wish it didn’t have to happen,” Mitchell said. “I don’t want to go back to my past.”

dperry@sunjournal.com

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