For parenting students at community college, it takes a village. It also takes a grant

Pasadena City College student Mamouyling Lim found out she was pregnant at the college’s health center. Lim considered taking a break from her educational journey, but when she stumbled upon the Family Resource Center, she realized that being a parent and student simultaneously was possible.

One in 10 California community college students are parenting, and about 13% of the students who file financial aid check off that they have dependents, according a 2021 UC Davis study.

On Pasadena’s campus, the Family Resource Center used registration data to find that of the 23,608 students on campus, 1,000 self-identified as parents. More than 400 students used the center in some way this spring, whether as a study space, garnering materials needed for their child, or a place to meet other needs.

“During my pregnancy, it was a little bit of everything,” said Lim, a health science major. “There was not really any judgment. Obviously, I did receive a few looks, but I think it's not like any bad intention is just like, oh, you know, a big belly. Like, she's pregnant.”

Parenting students have specific needs

Tucked away in Pasadena City College’s Creveling Lounge, three small rooms are filled with diapers, baby wipes, clothing, food, and toys. There’s also lactation rooms and study spaces for parents. The rooms on the second floor collectively make up the Family Resource Center.

The center was created two years ago, following a $500,000 federal earmark from Rep. Judy Chu and the U.S. Department of Education. The college was given the opportunity to address the growing needs of parenting students, building on a framework created by the college’s 24-year-old Child Development Center, which provides daycare for children as young as infants to preschoolers.

Mamouyling Lim and her family.

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Courtesy Mamouyling Lim

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“Our parenting students have very specific needs,” said Marisol Jara-Garza, the director of the Family Resource Center. “If you walk out to the quad, you see students hanging out. And if you really start to observe what type of students they are, they're young and with their same age group. They have the luxury of time. Whereas parenting students; they come, they do their thing, and then they leave because they have other responsibilities.”

Jara-Garza is a PCC alum herself. Although she was not a parenting student while she was enrolled, she is a mother and knows just how vital a village is. Before landing the top gig at the Family Resource Center, Jara-Garza worked at the Child Development Center.

Child care is not the same as family space

The main difference between the Family Resource Center and the Child Development Center is that the FRC does not offer childcare. Instead, there are spaces for students to study while their children play nearby; by design, the center emphasizes the family of the child, specifically the parent enrolled in school.

Aside from the free goodies — the most common are the baby wipes, which also happen to be the only item with a one-per-student limit — the center is a hub of information on what accommodations to ask professors, how to take leave from college, and what their Title IX rights are.

The center also works in conjunction with the Child Development Center to provide workshops on topics like how to deal with terrible twos, how to talk to my teen, to topics like how to write a resumé.

“I want to make sure that our parenting students see themselves also as individuals,” said Jara-Garza. “So, I’m making sure that I also provide workshops for them on how to better themselves.”

One cycle of parents helps the next

Lim joined the Family Resource Center’s graduation celebration for parenting students. This is the third annual celebration hosted by the center, and Jara-Garza is eager to see students off knowing they had a support system during their time at PCC.

Lim’s partner, Samuel Aguilar, is currently in the dental hygiene program at PCC and set to graduate next year. While Lim looked forward to graduating and spending time with her six-month-old son Luke Aguilar Lim, she sees a nursing career in her future.

Until then, Lim gathers up her son’s clothes that he rapidly grows out of, to donate them back to the Family Resource Center, for the next parents who need them.