The mood was festive at First Methodist Church in Washington, as supporters gathered for the annual “Adopt a Teen” banquet, celebrating the season and a program that helps teen moms get on their feet — and stay there.

It’s all part of Higher Heights Human Services, founded by Loretta Ebison to provide young mothers with the skills they need — parenting, education, the ability to build support systems and avoid risk-taking behaviors — to create a positive life for themselves and their child. The organization is supported by local churches and other entities looking out for the welfare of these children who have children, to help prevent them from slipping through the cracks and, ultimately, living a life of poverty. The “Adopt a Teen” program and banquet is where the community steps in to give the select group of girls, and their children, a Christmas wish come true, in the form of much-needed gifts they might not be able to afford otherwise.

The banquet, however, is not just about the giving of physical gifts, according to Ebison, but about another gift altogether: the gift of encouraging words.

That’s what Virginia Beach psychologist Dr. Sarah Williams-Tolliver gave the girls as she shared the story of her childhood with the assembled crowd. Williams-Tolliver’s mother had the first of six children at the age of 14, but through hard work and education, put all six of her children through college.

“You hang in there — you, who have no reason to make it,” Williams-Tolliver said. “If you don’t know how to solve a problem, learn how. If you’re not good at math, fix it. If you need tutoring, get it. If you need counseling, get it. … If you can think it, you can dream it, you can make it. I promise you, because I was one of the ones who wasn’t supposed to make it.”

While the “Adopt a Teen” program is highly successful each year, the main focus of Ebison’s work is getting a residential maternity home for adolescents up and running in Beaufort County. While she has leased property from the county to house the Higher Heights’ office and the home where teens will one day get one-on-one mentoring. life-coaching assistance and childcare so they can continue school or work, the fundraising necessary to renovate the aging buildings is a slow process.

For more information about Higher Heights Human Services and how to support its programs, visit www.higherheightshs.org or call Loretta Ebison at 252-945-3089.