Goals & Objectives

The stated goal of A Step Ahead Foundation is to help Shelby County women get a step ahead in life, enabling them to plan their lives and families. We aim to ensure that teens and women have access to long-acting, reversible contraceptives (LARCs), which are the most effective contraceptives. We offer these at no cost to our clients, and they are proven to be over 99% effective in preventing pregnancies. An additional goal is to help ensure that women and teens are able to access LARCs where a large number of our clients already receive their primary health care at community clinics. We also help to ensure that an adequate number of medical professionals at community and private clinics are trained and willing to provide the clinical services needed to provide prompt, hassle-free access. 

By enabling women to have access and knowledge regarding long-acting, reversible contraception (LARC), Shelby County women can achieve their full potential—educationally, economically, and in their family lives. Our long-term objectives include decreasing rates of teen pregnancy, school dropout, unemployment, and poverty.

Statement of Need

• More than 50% of teens who have a baby while still in high school will not graduate or even have their GED by the time they are 22 years of age.  
   
• More than 50% of teen mothers will also having another baby within 24 months, thus almost guaranteeing a life of poverty for her children and for herself.  
   
• For Shelby County, those actual numbers are: 1,464 teen births in 2015, with close to 1 in 3 of these mothers having another child within 24 months.