PEORIA MAGAZINE August 2022

Westminster Infant Care Center director Valerie Sager

new career through Malik, who was diagnosed with autism at age 4. “It would have been a struggle those first two years without the people at the Infant Care Center and I would not have known what a good, positive support system looks like. Through them, I was making connections, asking for help and building my own support system,” said Lewis. There have been so many other success stories. Ebonicia Leggins was a high school sophomore when daughter Machia was born. “There were negative ways I could have turned, but … they were so positive.” Today she resides in Iowa and operates her own event decorating business. Her daughter is now 20. While a student atManual High School, Angel Sashington delivered her daughter, Zaria, in June, 2020. At 18months, Zaria started attending Westminster. Mom finished high school a year early, and begins nursing studies at Midwest Technical Institute in August. Currently, Westminster has the staff to attend to eight children. The Center is licensed through the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services to care for up to 11 children. Although created through the vision of Westminster Presbyterian Church members, WICC is an independent, non profit organizationwith 501(c)(3) status and has its own board of directors. It receives funding from Westminster Presbyterian Church, other area churches and theChildCareConnection Subsidy Program, overseen by SAL Childcare Connection, in addition to private donations and grants. Student parents looking for childcare during the coming school year can contact Sager at 309-224-6238 or email at wicc1973@gmail.com. Preg nant mothers starting school this fall can reserve space for later in the school year

‘REMOVING BARRIERS THAT MIGHT HINDER THEM IN THEIR EDUCATIONAL GOALS, THAT’S WHAT WE DO’

-Valerie Sager

If parent and child are receiving services from the Center when the mother receives her diploma or GED, they can continue receiving assistance there until the child turns 3, if mom continues her education. Westminster’s teen moms brag a 90% success rate in getting their diplomas or GEDs. Many young moms don’t know help is available. Pregnant girls often quit school without telling school counselors why. The latter usuallymake the referral to Westminster. “We are focused on childcare and transportation,” Sager said. “But we can guide them to agencies for help with other issues, too, such as mental health counseling, parenting classes and … health services. We can plug them into local resources for help with housing and food.” Beyond that, the Center tries to provide a sense of family. “We just try to love them, nurture them and help themas best we can,” said Sager. “We’re there to tell them we believe in them and they can do this.” The Center also is licensed to care for children with special needs. Malik, the son of LaToya Lewis, was one of them. Lewis was in the eighth grade when Malik was born, in 2000. After the delivery, the newborn was whisked out of the delivery room for testing.

“Later, the doctor came into my room and toldmeMalik had Down Syndrome. He handed me a book about Down Syndrome and walked out,” Lewis said. “I was so young, I didn’t know what Down Syndrome was,” she recalled. “I knew I was just going to do it one day at a time.” Malik had a feeding tube for the first two years of his life. A member of the Westminster congregation who was a nurse trained the Infant Care Center staff on how to feed the infant, who also needed twice-a-week physical therapy at Easterseals. “They told me what to do and I went home and did it,” Lewis recalled. Her own mother had told her, “You got pregnant, now you take care of him.” Malik is now 21 years old and a recent graduate of vocational school. Lewis looks back on her experience at Westminster as an “it takes a village” moment. She valued the family-oriented, non-judgmental environment. When she informed Center staff that she was moving with family to Minnesota in 2002, “they all cried,” she said. Lewiswouldgoon toget her bachelor’s degree in social work. She now has two daughters, 9 years old and 10 months old. She is an entrepreneur, designing weighted and compression clothing for people with autism. She came to this

Linda Smith Brown is a 37 year veteran of the newspaper industry, retiring as publisher of TimesNewspapers in the Peoria area

AUGUST 2022 PEORIA MAGAZINE 31