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KAREN'S STORY
A Future That Didn’t Stop

Snow

| "I'm all day in school. They help me. There's no one else. My whole family works. I'm really grateful."

Karen became a mom while she was in high school. For a lot of young parents in Grays Harbor County, that is where the story ends. School stops. Dreams get smaller. The future narrows.
 

For Karen there was no family member who could step in. Her whole family works. There was no one else. Without Snug Harbor Nursery, finishing school would not have been possible.
 

But Snug Harbor was there. And because of that, Karen never had to choose between her daughter and her future.
 

She graduated Harbor High. She kept going. She enrolled at Grays Harbor College, studying in the medical field. She is two months away from finishing her degree. She is already thinking about nursing school.
 

And her daughter — who has been at Snug Harbor Nursery since the day she was born, who has grown up there while Karen went to class — just turned four. This fall she heads to preschool, moving on to the next chapter.

HER DAUGHTER

Four years old. Has been at Snug Harbor Nursery since birth. Heading to preschool this fall on the same curriculum she already knows.

KAREN

Is now two months from finishing
her medical degree. Considering continuing her education to nursing school.

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"Karen is finishing her degree this spring. Her daughter is heading to preschool this fall. Snug Harbor Nursery made both possible."

Snug Harbor Nursery is the only program of its kind in Grays Harbor County. Without it, the closest option would be over an hour away. No car. A baby. No options. For young parents at Harbor High and Grays Harbor College, it is often the difference between finishing and not finishing.
 

But it is more than child care. Families receive support navigating WIC, parenting plans, court paperwork, and birth certificates. Staff are advocates who walk alongside families through whatever they need. And when a child moves on from the nursery, the transition to preschool uses the same curriculum they have grown up with so nothing feels like starting over.

WHAT SNUG HARBOR MADE POSSIBLE FOR KAREN

  • She graduated high school as a young mom when many don't

  • She continued to Grays Harbor College and is two months from her degree

  • Her daughter has been safe, cared for, and learning from day one

  • Karen finishes her degree this spring as her daughter heads to preschool this fall

"This is one story of success from Snug Harbor Nursery. There are more. Your support helps make sure there always will be."

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Children currently enrolled in Snug Harbor Nursery​
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High school interns building early childhood careers through COPE

Stories like Karen's happen because this community shows up. United Way Grays Harbor helps support Snug Harbor Nursery through COPE so young parents in Grays Harbor County never have to choose between their child and their future.

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