Welcome to the Women’s Philanthropy Series: Pretty Passion Hands

Pretty Passionate Hands creates a supportive village for new, young moms who don’t have the structure and support to know what their future looks like and how to get there. At PPH, the team takes a strength-based approach to building the mother’s confidence. They ask questions like “What are you good at? What do you like to do? Where do you see yourself in the future?” Some of them have never been asked these questions, and some have never had role models who have walked the path they are imagining for themselves. Through Pretty Passionate Hands, they provide mentorship, parenting education, mental health support, financial literacy, and access to basic needs like food, hygiene, clothing, and childcare. They’ve built spaces like their Wellness Clinic and programs such as Ar’Promis Circle and HER Future to help girls develop confidence, life skills, and a sense of identity beyond their circumstances. Through PPH, these pregnant mothers create a life plan for themselves and their baby. They identify immediate needs through educational attainment, such as a GED, but also begin to identify a long-term plan by asking questions, such as “What does life look like beyond pregnancy? How do you plan to create a healthy life for you and your baby? What are the tools that you need to create that life?” PPH is committed to helping these girls answer these questions, but also developing a full toolbelt to truly become self-sufficient to build the life they dream of.

When we asked Paradise what the common misconceptions that individuals have of the young women in Pretty Passionate Hands, Paradise said people are often judgmental of these women and their pregnancy journey. Paradise challenges everyone to reserve judgment and keep an open, empathetic mind to the circumstances in which they have never found themselves. Most of the girls at PPH often come from foster care, have previous justice-involvement, and/or come from communities and generational patterns where young pregnancy is common. A lot of the young women PPH serves are navigating life without stable guidance. They may not have family support, transportation, childcare, or even access to basic resources, and when systems are fragmented, they fall through the cracks. It’s not just one issue—it’s layers. Housing instability, mental health, financial hardship, and lack of education all show up at once. And too often, people expect these young women to succeed without ever addressing those barriers. At PPH, they focus on removing those barriers in a real, hands-on way so the new moms actually have a fair chance to build a future.

If the impact of Paradise and Pretty Passionate Hands wasn’t clear enough, one of the more powerful testimonies is that 13 babies have been delivered in the program, and Paradise has personally been in the delivery room with 10 of them. She is one of the first faces these newborns see, and is able to stand alongside these mothers who otherwise would have been delivering without a loved one in the room. Pretty Passionate Hands has helped create stable families. They’ve had young mothers come into the program homeless, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, and within months, they’ve secured housing, opened bank accounts, found employment, and started building a future for themselves and their children. It’s not just about one success story—it’s about changing the trajectory of an entire family. That’s generational impact.