Kelsey: What about My Future?
My story with Avail begins in August 2022 when I found out I was unexpectedly pregnant. My boyfriend and I had only been dating for a few months and I was two and a half years into my Physics degree at an Ivy League school. I remember feeling overwhelmed. I have a single dad who lives far away and isn't able to help, and I was at my school on a full ride scholarship that I didn't want to lose.
When I approached the student health center on campus, the first thing they offered me was a free termination. I told them that I didn't really know if I wanted to go that route. But that was all they offered me. And my student insurance didn’t cover the full cost of labor and delivery.
Multiple offices—from Undergraduate Financial Aid, Title IX, Office of Work/Life, Undergraduate Housing, and the Center for Student Advising—said they had never dealt with a situation like mine before. I was told I would need to leave my dorm room if I had a baby, which meant I would lose my free housing if I chose to carry to term.
Torn between Mother and Student
So I started Googling pregnancy help and that’s when I found Avail. I made an online appointment and didn’t know what to expect going into it. I told my client advocate about my situation.
I explained how I was worried that if I kept my baby, I would lose my free housing. Then I’d have to work a lot to pay for housing and everything a baby needs, and I wouldn't be able to focus on my studies. That might mean, I would lose my scholarship, which would mean I couldn't afford to get my degree.
“Dropping out of college would impact what jobs I could get. It would change my whole future. ”
I thought about how disappointing it would be for my dad, because I was the first person in my family to go to college at all. I told my advocate that I was worried that I couldn't be a mother and a student, even though I wanted to.
The First Offer of Support
But the client advocate I met with was so supportive and after I told her all of that, she reassured me that she thought I would make a great mother. She told me there was support, and there were resources to address all the concerns I had. I felt so relieved that someone saw the potential in me and was willing to help me through this journey.
“That appointment was the first time I felt like somebody had resources to offer me. It was the first place I didn’t feel like my situation was strange or abnormal or overwhelming. I am generally a resourceful, do-it-yourself kind of person, but the resources I found while searching on the internet were either outdated or I was ineligible for them due to my status as a full-time student. Yet Avail clearly knew what they were doing and knew exactly how to help. ”
I had many more appointments with my client advocates at Avail. I took classes that prepared me for birth and parenting and got to earn points for supplies through participating in them. I still meet with a client advocate occasionally, and it's so nice to get to talk with another mom and hear tips from her own parenting story.
My daughter Evie is just over a year old now. Our journey has not been easy—I'm currently involved in a custody dispute with her father. But Avail is still here for me. From helping me with maternity clothes, housing while I was pregnant, diapers, and a stroller, to now helping me navigate legal aid, I feel like Avail has been the one place that’s been in my corner from the beginning.
“I always knew what I wanted, but it wasn’t until I went to Avail that I knew what was possible.
I’m so thankful that when no one else was there, Avail was, on that first day, and all the ones after. Thank you for making that possible for me.”
Help women like Kelsey see all that is possible for them.