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Teenage mother could really use basic necessities EDITOR�S NOTE: "Light One Candle" is an annual Mail Tribune feature that focuses on a single need of a person, family or agency during the holidays. The girl�s story is as common as it is disheartening. Raised by drug addicts, she sought affection outside the family and wound up pregnant at 15. Her baby is 5 months old now, and the girl wants more than anything to get him off to a good start. She�s gotten help toward that goal from Community Works, a nonprofit agency in Medford. Through those programs, the girl has found housing, medical care, a part-time job at a fast-food restaurant and food stamps. She is back in school, trying to complete graduation requirements. She�s also enrolled in the agency�s Transitional Living Program, which prepares young people for life on their own. But her small paycheck and public assistance stretch only so far, and food stamps don�t stretch at all when it comes to household goods like laundry soap and trash bags. Most 16-year-olds wouldn�t dream of asking for plastic wrap and paper towels for Christmas, but for this girl, such necessities would make life so much easier. Along with laundry soap, bleach and fabric softener, she could use staples such as toilet paper, facial tissue, sponges, 13-gallon garbage bags, cleaning solutions and coffee filters. The items can be delivered to Community Works offices at 900 E. Main St., Medford. For more information, call 779-2393. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.