Fristers

Fristers is dedicated to helping teen and young parents build healthy and stable lives and families through educational classes and workshops, mentoring, case management, and the support of a caring community.

Fristers grew from a recognition that adolescent parents were raising children while navigating the challenges of parenthood with few resources, limited support, and little access to services designed specifically for their needs. Founder Ali Woodard began serving young mothers in 2002 through an outreach ministry at Mariners Church and, in 2003, created Club Mom, a support and education program for teenage mothers. As the need became increasingly clear, that work grew into Fristers, which incorporated as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in 2008.

From the beginning, Fristers has believed that young parents can build healthy, stable lives and families when they have consistent guidance, education, resources, and caring relationships. What began as support for young mothers expanded over time to include their children, fathers, and couples, recognizing that strengthening families requires supporting both generations and the family as a whole.

Today, Fristers provides a comprehensive, relationship-based Wraparound Program that combines evidence-based education, individualized case management, mentorship, child development and school readiness services, resource connections, and practical support. Community and church partnerships further surround families with expertise, resources, encouragement, and caring relationships.

Fristers now serves hundreds of parents and children each year throughout Orange County and has impacted more than 5,000 since its inception. Young parents are completing high school, pursuing college and vocational training, securing employment, strengthening parenting and relationship skills, and building greater stability. Their children are receiving the developmental support and early learning opportunities they need to grow and thrive.

What began with a desire to ensure young mothers did not have to navigate parenthood alone has grown into a community committed to helping young families build healthy, stable, and hopeful futures.

Fristers empowers adolescent and young parents to build healthy, stable lives and families where parents and children thrive. Through relationship-based, two-generation support, young parents strengthen parenting skills, build healthy relationships, pursue education and employment, and gain the confidence, resources, and support to create stable futures. Their children receive early learning and developmental support that prepares them to grow, learn, and succeed. The impact is lasting: 100% of Fristers graduates earn a high school diploma, and 99% of participating families remain intact and out of the foster care system.

Family is one of the greatest influences on a child’s future. During the earliest years of life, children depend on their parents for safety, stability, nurturing relationships, and the experiences that support healthy development. Yet adolescent and young parents are learning to raise a child while still navigating their own transition to adulthood, often with limited financial resources, interrupted education, unstable relationships, and little consistent guidance or support.

In Orange County, widespread affluence can obscure the challenges facing young families. Adolescent parents may experience poverty, housing instability, social isolation, limited access to childcare, and barriers to completing their education or securing employment. Without a strong support network, everyday challenges can quickly become overwhelming, making it harder for young parents to create the stable family life they want for their children.

Young parents also need knowledge and skills that many have had little opportunity to develop: understanding child development, practicing positive parenting, building healthy relationships, managing stress and conflict, solving problems, accessing community resources, and planning for their education and employment. Young fathers may face additional barriers to involvement and often lack positive models of engaged fatherhood.

The needs of their children are equally important. Children of adolescent parents can face increased risk for developmental, behavioral, and academic challenges, particularly when families lack access to early learning opportunities and developmental support. Identifying concerns early and helping parents understand and support their child’s development can significantly strengthen a child’s foundation for school and life.

Early, consistent, relationship-based support can change the trajectory for these families. By strengthening parental resilience, parenting knowledge and skills, healthy relationships, social connections, and access to concrete resources, young parents are better equipped to create safe, healthy, and stable homes. These protective factors also reduce risks for child abuse and neglect, domestic violence, unhealthy relationship dynamics, and other vulnerabilities, giving both parents and children greater opportunity to thrive.

Greater Orange County

Parenting is challenging at any age. For adolescent and young parents who are still finding their own way in the world, raising a child can feel overwhelming, especially without consistent guidance, resources, and people they can turn to for support.

At Fristers, we believe every young parent deserves the opportunity to build a healthy, stable family and every child deserves the opportunity to thrive. That belief has guided our work from the beginning.

We walk alongside young families with education, mentorship, individualized case management, child development services, practical resources, and, perhaps most importantly, a caring community that believes in them. We help parents navigate challenges, recognize their strengths, develop new skills, pursue education and employment, and become confident, capable parents.

What inspires me most is the hope I see take root. A young mother who once felt alone discovers a community standing beside her. A father begins to understand how important he is in his child’s life. A parent who questioned what the future could hold graduates from high school, enrolls in college or vocational training, or begins a career. And a child receives the nurturing, developmental support and early learning experiences that create a stronger foundation for life.

None of this happens alone. Donors, volunteers, mentors, community partners, churches, staff, and advocates surround these families with resources, expertise, encouragement, and genuine relationships.

For more than 18 years, I have had the privilege of watching young parents accomplish things they once may not have believed possible. Their perseverance reminds us why this work matters. When we invest in a young family, we are helping parents and children build something powerful together—a healthy, stable, and hopeful future.

I am deeply grateful to everyone who stands with Fristers and believes in the potential of the families we serve.

Ali Woodard
Founder & President/CEO