Khadijah Miller moved around a bit in her 18 years.
She went from living with her mother to a foster care home and then to a group home. She lives with her two daughters, Kayonia, 3, and Daeyonia, 1, in Penn Hills.
"I jumped from place to place to place," said Miller, who plans to study nursing at Carlow University this fall.
She is among 18 students headed to college from Ward Home, a Scott-based nonprofit that helps unwanted teens learn the life skills they need. It is the largest graduating class in the program's history.
The Child Welfare League of America estimates that 20,000 children turn 18 each year with no viable family support system. In Allegheny County, as many as 1,000 teens need independent-living services each year, according to KidsVoice, a legal aid and advocacy group in Pittsburgh.
Fifty percent don't graduate from high school. Forty percent of females have babies within four years.
Ward Home students have been declared "dependent" by a judge and removed from their homes for a variety of reasons, said William Phelps, executive director of Ward Home, founded in 1905 by Robert B. Ward.
They can face a number of challenges.
"You can come into our program, but you may not be ready to learn," Phelps said.
Amber Worthy, 17, of East Liberty concedes she wasn't ready when she first came to Ward Home. Over time, she "opened up" and is heading to Edinboro University to study drama in pursuit of her dream of becoming an actress.
Janisha Hamel, 18, of Carrick was jobless and had emotional issues when she arrived. She landed a job as a lifeguard and plans to study nursing at Clarion University.
"They helped my emotional state," she said.
Students from Ward Home will be attending state universities such as Edinboro, Clarion and Indiana; Carlow and Chatham universities; Community College of Allegheny County; Alabama State; Rosedale Tech or Allegheny College.
They'll be leaving their Ward Home family, but they won't be forgotten.
Daryl Lucke of Mt. Lebanon, Ward Home's director of human resources, is organizing care baskets for the 18 students.
They will include toiletries, goodies and gift cards. The "little pieces of love from home" will arrive near the end of September, Lucke said.
She hopes to recruit enough donations to keep sending the care packages all year.
When a student who was accepted at Alabama State University had no way to get there, Duane Halt, a retired truck driver who works in the maintenance department at Ward, volunteered to drive him.
"I drove a truck for 28 years. This will be a hop, skip and a jump," he said.
Larger text
Smaller text
Print this article
E-mail this article
