Adolescent Mothers Encouraged to Join the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation
By: , May 12, 2025
Photo: Mark Bell
Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange (right), shares a photo opportunity with (from left) Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF) Board Chair, Debby-Ann Brown Salmon, and Culture, Health, Art, Sports and Education (CHASE) Fund Public Relations and Administrative Manager, Hilary Coulton. The occasion was the WCJF Empowered Futures Parenting Symposium at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston on May 9.The Full Story
Adolescent mothers are being encouraged to register with the Women’s Centre of Jamaica Foundation (WCJF).
Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, Hon. Olivia Grange, made the appeal while addressing the WCJF’s Empowered Futures Parenting Symposium at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston on May 9.
She urged adolescent mothers not to face their pregnancies alone, emphasising that the WCJF is ready to provide support.
“If you have a friend who you know is pregnant, encourage that friend to register with the Women’s Centre. If you have a neighbour, if you know anyone who has a young girl, a teenage girl who is pregnant, encourage them to be a part of this programme,” she said.
Minister Grange recounted the tragic passing of a young girl at Spanish Town Hospital in St. Catherine, suggesting that the outcome might have been different had she been registered with the WCJF.
“I understand that, maybe, she had a special blood type. But if the Women’s Centre were monitoring her pregnancy, they would have been on top of everything. So, when she went into the hospital, they would have been there for her and her life would have been saved,” she said.
Despite challenges, Ms. Grange praised the WCJF for its strong track record of positively impacting young lives and communities.
She noted that for more than 40 years, the Foundation has been eliminating obstacles that could hinder teenage mothers from leading successful lives.
“It does this in two very important ways. One, by helping teenage mothers to continue their education, thereby increasing their job prospects and, two, by equipping you with the tools to look after your children and to become good parents. So the Women’s Centre has been a lifeline. It’s a lifeline for you all and I want you to appreciate and understand that,” Ms. Grange said.
Meanwhile, she charged the adolescent mothers to cherish the life they are carrying, regardless of the circumstances under which they got pregnant.
“When you have your baby, be proud of your baby because… I know that there are many upstanding and outstanding women in this society who got pregnant as a teenager and, today, they are some of the best leaders and workers and captains of industry in this country,” Minister Grange stated.