Lowe’s Hometowns program ensures no young mother goes without a home

Volunteers are working together to ensure no mother goes without a roof over her or her baby’s head.

On Thursday, the Lowe’s Hometowns program makes the annual decision to choose 100 community projects across the nation to give a helping, and this year, they chose the one-of-its-kind organization Our Mother’s Home.

Our Mother’s Home of Southwest Florida is teaming up with Lowe’s to renovate a vacant building to give single mothers between the ages of 11 to 22, and their kids, a place to stay.

“A lot of them didn’t come to us naturally,” said Alicia Miller, Our Mother’s Home Executive Director. “They came to us through trauma and abuse in their history, so they’re looking for a normal life, and they just want to feel normal and have [an] independent life in their future. That’s what they’re looking for.”

This project will help children like 4-year-old Lilly, whose mom came to Our Mother’s Home when she was 14 and pregnant with Lilly.

Volunteers will be transforming a portion of the upstairs space into three bedrooms, two bathrooms, a living room, and a dining area, but that’s not all. The second floor and kitchen will have new cabinets, a cooktop, up-to-date appliances, new light fixtures and flooring.

“We’ll have 10 bedrooms right now. We are DCF-licensed for that many, and we don’t have that capacity. We don’t go over eight right now, so we’re expanding our services not only by two bedrooms but also the huge age group we can help continue working with,” Miller said.

Lowe’s awarded a $110,000 grant to Our Mother’s Home to give teenage mothers and babies a way to stay out of the foster care or human trafficking system and stay together as a family.

Since Our Mother’s Home launched in 2000, more than 400 children and mothers have benefited from their mentored living program.