A Brooklyn nonprofit is helping young moms by offering the support they need to succeed.

Samora Coles, founder and executive director of the Alex House Project, says when she started the program, she had just two moms and now there are 500.

"I was a young mom myself. I had my first child at 17," says Coles. "I didn't know where to go to get resources for my son and myself and I found it very hard to navigate through the systems myself."

While employed by another nonprofit, Coles was asked to identify a need in the community since she was a young mom herself. Coles recognized that many young mothers in public housing had little guidance and support. She says the Alex House Project started off as small parenting classes, but the needs of young moms went deeper than that.

Now the program offers moms help with getting back to school, with child care, public assistance and more.

"We took those challenges that they were having, and we created projects to help young moms and dads to help them navigate through those systems to ease the pain," says Coles.

The Alex House Project has been supporting women since 2013. The mission is to see a world in which low-income families benefit from comprehensive supports, and young mothers in particular, successfully transition into parenthood with access to parental training, higher education and employment.

"I came here because I needed support," says Kaleshia Sostre, a mother who is a client of the Alex House Project. "I have two boys and they're 9 and 10 now. The Alex House Project helped me get my first apartment, my GED through the COVID lockdown, and they were able to support me financially and emotionally.”

The Alex House Project also offers help for young dads up to the age of 30 who are looking to get help to pay down arrears in child support or need help transitioning to fatherhood.