In 1998, Founder and current President Peg Wright set out to provide a program to support the 25,000 unmarried teens who give birth in New Jersey each year.

The Center's first facility had only 6 beds, and was able to accommodate just 22 women a year, turning away over 150 adolescents and adult women due to lack of space. Dreaming of having a facility in which three times the number of women in need, and their children, could be welcomed into the program, Ms. Wright, the Board of Directors, and the staff embarked on an arduous Capital Campaign, eventually succeeding in raising $4.2 million. Soon, two beautiful buildings stood side-by-side, promising a quiet and tranquil setting for so many residents to-be.

But the dream did not end there. Ms. Wright and the Board looked ahead to providing transitional housing and outpatient treatment. In autumn of 2009, through a grant from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), our Outpatient Treatment Program became a reality. Called HARRT, this program helps reduce the risk of HIV/AIDS in high-risk pregnant and postpartum women through a comprehensive system of gender-specific care.