This Miami middle school student has made it her mission to help teen moms
When Mina Boomer overheard classmates speaking judgmentally about teen mothers, the 14-year-old knew she wanted to do something about it.
“I want them to know they are supported,” said Boomer, who just graduated from Ada Merritt K-8 Center in Miami and will start 9th grade at Immaculata-La Salle High in the fall, where she plans to join the cheerleading team.
Her quest to help teen moms became the foundation for her community service project – a donation drive for moms at the C.O.P.E. Center South, a Miami-Dade public school for pregnant and parenting teenagers. C.O.P.E. stands for Continuing Opportunities for Purposeful Education.
Her goal is for people to talk about and support teen moms, but not shame them.
There are two C.O.P.E. schools in Miami-Dade County, and Boomer partnered with the south campus, located in the Kendall area not far from Coral Reef High, which now serves 28 students. At one point, it served close to 300.
The C.O.P.E school was established in 1968 to encourage teen mothers to remain in school. At first, the schools were leased on the properties of two churches, and as they grew, they got their own buildings.
In Miami-Dade, the teen birth rate has gone down significantly since the early 2000s. In 2023, just 9 teens out of every 1,000 had a child, compared to close to 35 out of 1,000 in 2004, according to data from the Florida Department of Health.
Teen pregnancy has decreased in the past decades because of the greater availability of contraceptives and also a trend of people waiting until they are older to have sex
The school offers mental health counseling, on-site healthcare, a full nursery with toys and books, and even a playground in the courtyard.
Students at the school can bring their children to class and can enroll in programs in fashion design, business, culinary arts, and patient care.
Boomer’s project, which began as a Girl Scout project, started with identifying the need. She reached out to Principal Tammy Edouard and arranged a meeting.
“I was surprised because she was so young, but we were willing to help,” Edouard recalled.
Boomer created a survey to send to the students and determine what they needed most. The answer: diapers, baby bottles, toiletries, and makeup, which surprised her at first but then she remembered that they are still teenagers and want to do the same things as any other person their age.
“They’re not just moms, you know, they want to put mascara and lip gloss on, and dance with their friends, and also take care of their kids,” wrote Boomer in a draft of an op-ed about the project that will be published in the coming weeks by Miami-Dade County Public Schools.
At first, she thought she could set up a table outside a CVS to ask shoppers to donate. But when the pharmacy declined, she didn’t give up. She kept working to find a way.
Eventually, United Way of Miami-Dade agreed to host her drive and offer a space to collect donations. She put out a call on social media to the community and asked people to drop off items at United Way in Coconut Grove. She also secured diaper donations from someone she met at a Fourth of July event who works for Huggies’ parent company.
After collecting the donations, she made her first delivery to the school and met with the moms.
They gave her a card thanking her for the support.
“Thank you so much for having a caring servant’s heart! May God bless you for your loving demonstration of his love!” read one message on the card presented to Boomer after her first delivery.
She kept gathering donations, gearing up for the second delivery, which took place on the last week of school.
Boomer skipped her school’s field day, and her father took the day off work to drive her across town. They loaded the car with dozens of baby bottles, makeup kits, toiletries, and diapers in every size.
At the school, Principal Edouard greeted her with a smile: “How are you, beautiful?”
Boomer presented the staff with a jar of homemade chocolate sauce, and the donations were unloaded onto a table in the hallway. “I appreciate you showing love to my girls,” Edouard told her.
Like other high schools, the C.O.P.E school closes during the summer, making Boomer’s donation particularly well-timed so that the moms can have items to take home for the summer.
Boomer hopes this is just the beginning. She plans to continue visiting the school and wants to expand the project into a food pantry.
“I’d love to get to know more of the girls and go more often,” she said.
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This story was originally published June 10, 2025 at 4:30 AM.
