TOLEDO, Ohio — This time last year WTOL brought you the story of a mom who was graduating out of the nonprofit program Mom's House and starting a job as a nurse at Flower Hospital.
School is out for most students and now we have an update on the mom and son's transition.
Maya Blosser said it was a huge leap for her family to take but she quickly learned she had the right kind of support to lean on.
"I used to go to Mom's House," said Maya's son, 5-year-old Kingston Coleman.
The Mom's House founding principle is to help young single mothers continue their education while tackling parenthood. Kingston attended the nonprofit childcare center between the ages of 4 months to 4 years old.
In 2023, Maya received a degree in nursing and got her first job out of college. So, it was also time for Kingston to move on to a new school.
"We didn't know any other childcare, besides being at Mom's House. So the task of finding somewhere that I could trust, to be as good to him as what Mom's House was, was very stressful," said Maya.
During that transition she learned that Mom's House had a plan in the form of partnerships.
The non-profit Hope Toledo was ready to step in and get young Kingston into preschool at All 4 Kids. Now, Toledo Public Schools will take it from here with the free education and resources they provide for children grades kindergarten through 12.
"That is how you bring these partnerships full circle. To make sure that from the time the child is born they have support, Mom's House did that. They moved to pre-K, All 4 Kids, stepped in picked up where Mom's House left off. Now that kid is going to move on to a kindergarten in Toledo Public Schools and they will ultimately do great throughout their life," said REV. John C. Jones, President and CEO of Hope Toledo.
"We could not do what we do to assist our students without partnerships, it takes a full village it really does to assist our students in getting through," said Heather Baker, TPS Community Engagement Director. "We all need help sometimes and so for these families who need special attention or even more resources to assist we have a whole team of amazing people here at TPS that gathers around that work."
Christina Rodriguez, the director of Mom's House said they hope to build more partnerships in the future to help kids like Kingston and their moms reach their full potential.
Kingston said he is already planning for what's next.
"Mom's House, all for kids, too, Beverly and then high school, and then summer camp," said Kingston.
Kingston graduates from the All 4 Kids preschool on May 31. He will attend Beverly Elementary in the fall.
Maya said she still feels connected to the non-profit that gave her and Kingston their fresh start.
For more information about Mom's House, click HERE.
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