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04.16.2009
The Legacy Banks Foundation Contributes to Teen Parent Education Program

Pittsfield, Mass. – The Legacy Banks Foundation has provided a $1,500 grant to the Helen Berube Teen Parent Program to assist with operational expenses during 2009. The Program offers regular academic courses at an alternative education facility for pregnant or parenting young mothers. Students who attend the Teen Parent Program remain enrolled in the school from which they came, but continue on their academic course.

According to Richard Sullivan, president of The Legacy Banks Foundation, the Helen Berube Teen Parent Program provides an important service to young mothers who might otherwise discontinue their education before graduating from high school. “It is more important than ever that young people continue their education and pursue their professional aspirations. This program helps provide an educational avenue for many young mothers who are working to overcome significant challenges in their lives.”

The Helen Berube Teen Parent Program (HBTPP) began as a tutorial program for pregnant adolescents in 1979. HBTPP is an alternative education site which services Pittsfield’s growing population of young parents and their infants. In collaboration with Pittsfield Public Schools, pregnant and parenting teens, under the age of 21 years, enroll in the program in an attempt to earn their high school diploma, obtain their General Education Diploma (GED), or enter into HBTPP’s college preparatory program. With nine educational tutors, a licensed nurse practitioner, a case manager and an on-site infant nursery, the Helen Berube Teen Parent Program offers a comprehensive range of educational, health care and social services options throughout the academic school year.

The Legacy Banks Foundation provides financial support to non-profit organizations through Legacy’s market areas with an emphasis in six major areas - affordable housing, economic development, education, health and human services, civic and community, and arts & culture. Established in 2005, The Foundation continues the philanthropic tradition of Legacy Banks and its associates who have generously contributed their time, talent and treasure for the betterment of the communities in which they have worked and lived for well over a century.