I don’t know what to do about this, but I had something troubling happen today and I want to share it with you.

I was called into a meeting to resolve a problem with a potential lessee in one of our properties. There sat an attractive young woman holding a cute four month old baby. As the story unfolded I learned that she was 18 years old. She’d been in foster care between the ages of 14 to 18, and now at 18 she’d lost her boyfriend (What teenaged guy wants to hang out with a girlfriend who has started behaving like a mother instead of a trick?). I found out she’d dropped out of high school instead of getting her diploma.

I found it interesting that she had plenty of money, that one of the government agencies that helps foster children had helped her think through her budget and was willing to pay her first and last month’s rent and her deposit, but that she really had plenty of money without the government agency’s help. It turns out she’s a worker—got two jobs. She’s baking pizza part-time for minimum wage, and working six nights a week, making $180 per night in tips, as an entertainer at the local centerfold club. She explained that it “wasn’t that bad” because she wasn’t really nude, she wore pasties.

OH! Ok. Well, that makes everything different.

What choice does the girl have?

She’s feeding her baby.

She’s got no role models.

She’s using one of the only assets she knows she has.

I know she’s one of hundreds in our city, thousands in our state, and millions in our nation. But she’s the one I know.

I’m troubled. I know she was on her best behavior when meeting with me, but she seemed like a nice kid. And she’s just a kid. And she’s got a beautiful baby boy. And…..

I don’t know if she wants my help, if she’d take it, if she’s already so hooked on making $56,000 at age 18 with not even a high-school diploma that she wouldn’t consider getting an education and going legit. I don’t know. But I’m troubled.

Be troubled with me…