East County Young Lives’ Mom Prom

“He had me hide it from all my friends till I was 7-8 months,” said 20-year-old mom MacKenzie Goldberg. Goldberg was a pregnant teen attending high school at the time. Fast forward to now and Goldberg and her 4-year-old daughter, Gracie, were both attending a very welcome event, that she has attended before, a Mom Prom, created by Young Lives for Teen Moms. The teen mom prom was held on May 19 at El Cajon’s Community Covenant Church.

“He had me hide it from all my friends till I was 7-8 months,” said 20-year-old mom MacKenzie Goldberg. Goldberg was a pregnant teen attending high school at the time. Fast forward to now and Goldberg and her 4-year-old daughter, Gracie, were both attending a very welcome event, that she has attended before, a Mom Prom, created by Young Lives for Teen Moms. The teen mom prom was held on May 19 at El Cajon’s Community Covenant Church.

Kristin Dreesen, coordinator for East County Young Lives, said, “This is our third year doing the Mom Prom. They love it. We have over a dozen moms. We have people from Mary Kay Cosmetics or make-up artists to do make-up. We have hair stylists and dresses (prom dresses) from Goodwill Industries.”

Per Dreesen the fathers might be stepdads, married men, or fellow teens. Many of the girls come from abusive homes. She added, “Less than a quarter graduate but that changes to 38-40 percent for those involved in Young Lives. The moms go to Grossmont High School or alternative schools.”

ECYL provided, besides the make-up and hair styling stations, a taco bar station with desserts.  The multi-purpose room at the Community Covenant Church was decorated with festive balloons, streamers, and a backdrop for getting pictures taken. Pub tables provided areas to convene, eat, and listen to music.

Darlene Cossio, Director of Communications, Goodwill Industries of San Diego County, provided a rack of prom dresses to wear or buy at a discount.  Cossio said, “We offer 3-4 dresses based on size. One was a Zac Posen dress.”

One of the make-up artists, Jessica Francis, a Mary Kay consultant said, “I am matching the make-up to the color of their dresses and their skin tone.”

Volunteers manned the church’s nursery to provide childcare for the moms. This was an all-girls function.

Boxes of donated diapers were stacked to the side and as Dreesen noted “Nobody wants to potty train a baby faster than someone who can’t afford the diapers.”

MacKenzie Goldberg had dated her boyfriend for several years before she got pregnant. Goldberg’s comments on sex education? “I took sex ed in middle school but it was ‘Just like—don’t do it.’ We had been dating since I was 13. We (the father) broke up when she (Gracie) was just under one year.”

Currently Goldberg attends Diego Valley Charter School and will graduate soon. She plans on attending Grossmont College. Initially her mother was upset then took it in stride. Her current boyfriend is very supportive. Goldberg added, “It was a blessing in disguise.”

The event ran from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Dreesen gave brief religious comments, or as Goldberg said, “…with a little Christian mixed in” before the music was turned back on filling the room with music. The atmosphere was positive and fun-spirited.