She Started Helping Teen Moms From Her Car Trunk — Now Her Nonprofit Has Changed Thousands of Lives
Over 40 years ago Ellen Kogstad started helping teen moms from her car trunk—and never stopped
Key Takeaways
- Ellen Kogstad founded the New Moms nonprofit in Chicago in 1983 after volunteering/
- New Moms provides young mothers with housing, job training and essential support services/
- Last year alone the nonprofit helped 383 mothers and 452 children in the Chicago area.
What are they going to do? Ellen Kogstad thought as she looked around the OB ward at a Chicago hospital. In the early 1980s, Ellen served as a 20-something volunteer outreach worker through her church every Monday. She helped new mothers who had delivered babies over the weekend.
She often witnessed young, single teenagers becoming mothers, and her heart always went out to them.
They all seem so frightened, she thought, knowing the stress and insecurity they would face with a new baby and scarce resources. I have to do something to help these vulnerable young ladies.
A mission takes shape
With an under-resourced social work department at the hospital, Ellen started following up with discharged young moms and visiting their homes, focusing on those under 21. She would visit their houses with essential supplies like blankets, diapers and baby formula, all packed into the trunk of her car.
Word spread about Ellen’s work, and people and businesses in her community began donating diapers and other supplies. Ellen’s church even offered some space for her operation, which she quickly outgrew.
The project kept growing, and in 1983, Ellen founded the nonprofit New Moms, and she began serving even more mothers in need up to age 24 in the Chicago area.
When Ellen visited the homes of young new moms, she saw many sad and often shocking situations. She remembers one mom who had triplets at 20 years old. The babies’ father wasn’t involved, and she had no nearby family.
“There’s amazing work happening in the lives of these women!”
She met some moms living in basement apartments with dirt floors, and one young woman even had no plumbing. Ellen also met teen moms who faced being thrown out of their parents’ houses with no support.
But despite all the hardship, Ellen knew she was making a difference and that New Moms was saving lives.
“Thank you, I don’t have anyone to talk to,” one mom told Ellen. “I’d have to give up my baby if it weren’t for you!”
Wow, I have to keep this going, Ellen thought, feeling more motivated than ever to continue her mission. There has to be more we can do!
Soon after, Ellen launched Bright Endeavors—a store run by New Moms that creates handmade candles. I can employ moms at the store to give them job opportunities and learn new skills!
Building a support system
As the organization continued growing, Ellen stood in awe of all the ways it was able to help women in need.
New Moms helped Philena Price, a 24-year-old single mother of two young children, get a job with Bright Endeavors and earn an online degree program for cybersecurity.
“It’s been helpful to make a better life for me and my kids,” Philena says.
Another, Eliza Melendez, had run away from home at age 16. At age 18, Eliza had a baby and was facing eviction when she saw a flyer for New Moms at a laundromat. The nonprofit soon set her up in an apartment with another young mom, and they helped her learn to budget, grocery shop and plan meals.
Eliza quickly gained a sense of determination and has since earned a Ph.D. in psychology. Later, she reconnected with Ellen and now serves as a New Moms board member.
“That’s the beauty of this program. It gives women who don’t have other means to have a place to call home,” Eliza says. “I took the life lessons that I learned and catapulted my life in the other direction.”
Today, more than four decades later, New Moms has served thousands of moms in need with housing, beneficial job training and other support services. Last year alone, New Moms helped 383 moms and 452 children!
As for Ellen, she looks back on her 43 years of helping young moms and is grateful for all the people who have stepped up and volunteered to help other women in need.
“I have always been interested in women’s issues and children. It became rooted in me,” says Ellen. “There’s amazing work happening in the lives of these women. So many of them just go off and soar!”
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This article originally appeared in the May 11, 2026 print issue of Woman’s World.
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