SHAWN BYNUM HELPS GET YOUNG ADULTS THROUGH PARENTHOOD

Shawn Bynum has three daughters, but she's taking care of a much larger family.

Bynum is the supervisor of NOAH's parenting education program which serves about 15 parents and their children. She has become somewhat of a mother figure to her clients but extends her reach to others.

She was featured on the front page of The Palm Beach Post in an article about teens coping with the economic downturn — issues she confronts every day. She also received an award for recruiting about 30 youth in just a couple of days for the Florida National Guard and Armory's About Face summer employment program. "It felt really good to help because I know times are hard," she said.

Most of her time is spent educating parents. "Our focus is on teen parents, but I teach classes to any parent — young or old, male or female. I do this through my own lectures, through video, or my absolute favorite way to do this, is through guest speakers. They are very passionate about what they do, and they are fantastic."

Bynum has speakers counsel parents several times each week. Experts come from University of Florida and teach nutrition and other topics. Speakers have come from Pioneer Park Beacon Center, AVDA (Aid for Victims of Domestic Violence, Inc.) and other agencies. The AVDA speaker also helps with classes for the program's Spanish-speaking clients.

Bynum, who lives and works at Covenant Gardens, also holds one-on-one sessions with clients who cannot make it to classes because of work. She arranges for the parents and their children to take field trips together, most recently to Metro Zoo and Lion Country Safari.

"I try to make parenting fun," Bynum said. "This is not a situation where it's like: 'Oh you're a bad parent and this is what you need to do.' I'm not tailoring my program to say, 'You're a bad parent.' "

Many of the clients in the program have not completed high school and they need simple lessons in hygiene, nutrition and general care for children like washing their babies' hair on a regular basis. Sometimes, they need to learn how to take care of themselves.

After noticing that some of the parents coming to classes looking as if they just rolled out of bed, Bynum did a lecture on personal hygiene. On Mother's Day, she gave her clients inexpensive products they could use on themselves, like special rocks to scrub their feet. They can't afford salon treatments, but they can still take care of themselves, she tells them.

"If you're wearing those cute sandals, you need to rub your feet. If your nail polish is coming off, take it off and put some more on, don't just put more on over it."

Clients obviously like the lessons because they keep coming back to the volunteer program. Some of them bring other young parents. "Most of them are here because they want to be here," Bynum said.

Bynum has been running the program for nearly three years, but fears its future is in jeopardy. If new funding is not found, it will end in December.

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