Former teen mom creates 'A Girl Like Me' non-profit to mentor and pay it forward

DETROIT (FOX 2) - A former teenage mom is now paying it forward to help other young girls in the same position with guidance for their future and their reproductive health.

"I ended up meeting a boy, we end up talking to each other, being with each other, and of course we had sex - I ended up getting pregnant and nobody knew," said Tyra Moore.

Moore was 15, pregnant and terrified to tell her mom, until just before she gave birth.

"She found out on a Tuesday and Friday morning of that same week I ended up giving birth to my daughter," Moore said. "She was of course crying, sad and everything."

It obviously wasn’t what Moore’s mom wanted for her daughter, but after the shock wore off - support seemed to come from every direction for the then-teen mom. She was flooded with the essentials for her baby and what she needed to keep going.
 
"I did graduate, I did take some courses in college, I did go to the phlebotomy training center, I got my medical assistant, was working," she said. "I just promised myself, because this happened to me, one day I’m going to pay it forward and do it for moms like me." 

So Moore started A Girl Like Me Inc., a non-profit with humble beginnings. 

"First we were just using our savings, I would get them mom stuff and they wouldn't even know it came from me," she said. "And I said I needed to open more up and maybe I can reach more moms if I am public - maybe more moms that are in the same situation (I was) or going through something and just need that extra help.

"My husband and I every week, we would go and buy diapers, our house would look like Amazon or something. We had boxes and everything, everywhere."

She now runs the organization full-time after she lost her job during the pandemic and is now able to reach more people.   

"Losing my job really was a blessing and a curse," Moore said. "Because I’m able to do my passion."

She also mentors girls 11-17 and focuses on things like mental health and peer pressure to give the young ladies the tools to not just avoid teen pregnancy but to have a successful life.

For more information, A Girl Like Me Inc. can be reached by phone at (313) 957-9952