TOLEDO, Ohio — Mother and Daughter sharing the same graduation stage Wednesday night as part of a program that provides free daycare and preschool for children as their Mom's finish or go back to school.
It's all part of Mom's House graduation.
"There's very low moments, so knowing we have come out of that, is such a stride in the right direction and it's unspeakable, there's just no words for it," new graduate Jordan Saar said.
Saar and her daughters started at Mom's House under very different circumstances.
"I had just moved out of the house I was living with my child's father, we had a very toxic abusive relationship. It wasn't good for any of us," Saar said.
With a two-year-old and an infant, she knew going back to school could change her life, with the support of others involved in Mom's House.
"Knowing that there are other people that are the same age going through it, it makes you more comfortable to share something you might not have been willing to," Saar said.
When women and their children are accepted into Mom's House, daycare is free of charge along with counseling and other services.
" Childcare is a lot expensive, a lot of people work just to pay childcare, so for that not being in the picture for me, it gives me the ability to focus on keeping a roof over their heads, keeping food on the table, keeping heat in the house in the winter," Saar said.
Saar, Hayden and Malia get to go through school side-by-side. She's at Owens community college and they both went through the Mom's House preschool program.
On Wednesday, two of them graduated. Saar says this program has and will continue to change her life.
"It's really exciting knowing that it's not only a new chapter for me, but also a new chapter for her and we're going through this together," Saar said.
As her new preschool graduate Haden joins older sister Malia in school, Saar begins a new chapter of her professional life.
"I'm a teacher assistant now as well as I am a sous chef at the Summit Event Center," Saar said.
Wednesday, nine women graduated from high school, college and career programs and four children graduated from preschool.
Saar says they have all become family as they help around Mom's House and raise their children.
