St. Monica Home 
St. Monica Home is a rambling ranch, built into a tree covered South Salem hillside. From the front it looks like a modest single story home, but on the inside it is roomy and comfortable.
On the main floor there is a large cheerful kitchen, a spacious comfortable living room and a dining room with huge windows and a breath taking view of the Cascade Mountains.
On the lower level there is with a bright, airy family room opening onto a patio and large back yard perfect for young children to play in.
There is a large laundry room and a small computer room where girls going to school can do their homework. St. Monica is home to four teen-aged mothers. Each has her own room, which she shares with her child.
The housemothers teach the young moms how to take care of their babies. Girls with older babies help the new mothers and share their experience with them. Like a family, the young women who live here support and encourage one another. They learn from each other's successes and mistakes. They depend on each other to get through the tough times and often form friendships that outlast their stay at St. Monica Home.
If you would like to see our homes or are interested in living in one of them call or email and ask to talk to a housemother. She will be happy to show you the home and answer any questions that you may have.
St. Monica Home is a home where you can hear children playing and having fun, You can see new mothers settling in for their stay, happy to have someone one to talk to the same age as themselves. We want them to feel welcome and at peace, knowing that their new home is going to allow them to accomplish goals in their life that they may never have had the opportunity to accomplish before.
Once a young mom and her new child have settled in, she begins to plan how she is going to go to school as well as focus on all the special details of caring for her child. With the support that she has around her, she can make this step. With each day she realizes that she has parenting skills and that those that she does not have she can learn. In this way she discovers the great potential she has as an individual when given the opportunity.
Watching a child love their mother is priceless.
"Thank you mom for loving me and keeping me safe! Thank you mom for keeping me warm, talking to me, playing with me and of course always feeding me".
This is the reward of motherhood!
There is no handbook that prepares or teaches motherhood. Success is in the love that each young mother starts with toward her child and the determination that she builds on, that gives that child a chance in life.
At St. Monica Home I see many girls grow and mature. If they had been somewhere else they possibly would not have had that opportunity. As they grow . . . they make new plans and eventually leave us with memories and pictures. They take with them - belief in themselves and their own abilities, the experience of having lived in a "real" home and hope for the future.
Many stay in touch with us over the years. Some come back and visit both to share their victories and their defeats, knowing that we are always here and, "home" for them.
Lynn
Head Housemother