Woman uses teen mom experience to help young families

CINCINNATI (WXIX) - A Tri-State woman created a nonprofit to help teenage moms and dads navigate parenthood at a young age.

Rosemary Oglesby-Henry started Rosemary’s Babies Company in 2016.

Her organization helps provide teen parents with things like car seats and parenting classes for emergency transportation. These are resources Oglesby-Henry wishes she had as a teen mom.

Walking through this door at Rosemary’s Babies Company in Paddock Hills has become a haven for many young mothers across the area.

“When we opened our doors, and that first mom called and was like, ‘I’m pregnant.’ She was 16. She didn’t have any support,” recalled Oglesby-Henry. “She didn’t know what to do, and I was like, ‘don’t worry, we’re here. Everything is going to be okay.’”

Rosemary’s Babies has provided that same sense of security to more than 1,500 families over the past seven years.

Her nonprofit was birthed from her own personal struggles.

“I got pregnant my senior year; I was 17,” explains Oglesby-Henry. “I ended up homeless. Life did not go the way I wanted it to go, but it got hard, you know. I was living in income-based housing, and when I looked at my life, this is not the choice that I want to make for my child.”

So, she decided to transform her life by going back to school while working at the post office. She graduated with a bachelor’s and a master’s from Mount St. Joseph.

“It took me eight years to finish college to get my bachelor’s degree and my master’s degree,” says Oglesby-Henry. “I always had to make the choice to move forward to keep looking up to reach that goal.”

Now, her mission is to help other parents reach their goals. Not only to provide educational support, clothing, and diapers but to also help teens and families break repeated cycles.

“We’re a three-generation approach,” says Oglesby-Henry. “We want to make sure that teen parents don’t have more children before their time. We want to make sure that they graduate from high school. We want to make sure that they understand that your first job doesn’t have to be this low-wage job, that there are opportunities.”

Oglesby-Henry continues to set an example for those around her to never stop believing and achieving.

“When I was in high school, my dream was to be an author,” explains Oglesby-Henry. “Even though I got off course this year, I was able to write a book, and in that book, I just wanted to inspire teen parents to keep moving forward, to keep looking, and no matter what, no barrier you can break you.”

The CEO and author has taken on a new venture.

She recently purchased the Historic Holloway House in Avondale to be a new resource center and home for teen moms.

Oglesby-Henry says 35% of the teens that Rosemary’s Babies Company is currently serving are homeless and are moving from house to house.

The new Avondale facility will provide housing for seven moms and seven babies, which is expected to open later this year.

Breaking Through Series

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