There never seems to be enough space at Seton Home, a refuge for homeless pregnant or parenting teens. Each year the staff turns away more than 200 girls who request placement, Executive Director Margret Starkey said.

But with a new expansion of 24,000 square feet that includes a small library, common rooms, a teaching kitchen and 24 furnished efficiency apartments, the overall facilities have come a long way since the home opened in 1981 to house three teens.  Now, officials said, the chances of placement at Seton Home have grown.

Hundreds of Seton Home supporters, including past and present board members and current clients and their babies, gathered June 24 at the Mission Road grounds to celebrate the additions with tours, a stroller parade and cooking demonstrations.

District 3 City Councilman Roland Gutierrez said the additions, including a small chapel that is awaiting completion, are a blessing to the community.  "I cannot tell you how important this facility is to this district and San Antonio," Gutierrez said in his grand-opening message.

A study published in 2004 by Bexar County Metro Health's Project WORTH found that in 2002, the birth rate to females ages 15 to 17 was 43.5 per thousand, 88 percent higher than the national rate of 23.2 per thousand.  Texas, Bexar County included, has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates in the nation, the statistics showed.

Even with the additional space, the need for placement keeps growing, Starkey said. Many of the teens find themselves kicked out of the house when parents learn about the pregnancy, she said.

The girls can be placed at Seton Home by Child Protective Services or through private placement. The average age is 15, but the organization accepts girls ages 12-17. Teens can stay at Seton Home until they turn 20.

Laura Ann Lawson, 17, was recommended to Seton Home after a relative told her to leave. "He said if I was old enough to have sex and get pregnant, I was old enough to take care of me and my baby," Laura said. "He already had five kids to take care of himself."

Laura said she was on probation due to a theft charge, and her probation officer told her that Seton Home was an option. She said when she first heard about the organization, she was not interested in living by someone else's rules. But after giving birth and trying to support herself and her 6-month-old daughter on a fast-food restaurant salary, she changed her mind and contacted Seton Home.

"I like it here now," she said. "If you choose to be here, you have to choose to follow the rules." Laura said she is working on obtaining her General Educational Development diploma and hopes to go on to college.

Starkey said Seton Home offers parenting classes, and now nutrition and cooking classes are available in the new kitchen. The efficiency apartments are furnished with new appliances, too, she said.  "That was one thing they were upset about," Starkey said about the teens. "They wanted to cook in their own kitchens. And they will have that opportunity, but they have to go through the classes."

For some girls, however, the rules of the house -- cleaning their rooms, avoiding long telephone calls and watching television only at certain times -- are just too much.  Mary-Andra Robinson, 16, and her 1-month-old son Deandre have been at Seton Home since he was born, but she already is hoping to leave.  "They help with a lot of stuff like formula and diapers," she said. "But I still don't like it."  She said she may reconcile with her mom, who "flipped" when Mary-Andra told her about the pregnancy. She ran away to live with an aunt, but that didn't work out, either, she said.  "I don't know," she said. "I'm just lost, I guess."

At the opening ceremony, Precinct 1 Bexar County Commissioner Sergio "Chico" Rodriguez presented a surprise donation of $76,317 made available through the Bexar County Housing Finance Corp., Bexar County Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds and the Sequor Foundation.

The commissioner said he also hopes to donate another $160,000 from the CDBG and HOME Fund, but Commissioners Court must approve the amount.  "This is a powerful force in the community," Rodriguez said of Seton Home. "It ensures (that) young pregnant or parenting teens stay in school. It provides hope for the hopeless."

Women from a local club, The Quilters, also have been donating quilts and receiving blankets for some time.

mmondo@express-news.net