Christine Walton-Watson is single. The former Norfolk resident lives alone in the spacious, three-bedroom town house she owns in Manassas, where she relocated a few years ago for her accounting job. She's not engaged, doesn't have a boyfriend.
But when her gaze sweeps across her home's quiet rooms, in her mind's eye she sees babies. An infant in the kitchen, chubby legs dangling from a high chair. More diaper-laden babies napping or crying in cribs in other rooms.
And toddlers. Pacifier-plugged young ones waddling across the living room's brown carpet or playfully splashing in one of the home's two tubs.
With all those babies about, there'd be no room for Walton-Watson. She'd have to find somewhere else to stay. Living at Walton-Watson's house and tending to the tots would be their unmarried adolescent moms and three adult helpers.
All this would be a good thing, Walton-Watson says.
For the past few years, the 33-year-old has been laboring to transform her modest town home into a non-profit shelter for unwed teen-age mothers.
Her desire to help teen moms in trouble had unusual beginnings. Unlike people who champion a charitable cause, Walton-Watson's own life hadn't intersected with the problem she seeks to alleviate. In the Hampton neighborhood where she spent her pre-teen years, she never had to help a sister or childhood friend struggle with teen pregnancy.
After moving to Norfolk, she never saw an unplanned pregnancy shove a high school buddy to the educational wayside. And by the time she was an honors graduate from Norfolk State University, she had never experienced the problems of any woman who had become a mom too young.
But on a winter's evening in 1998, Walton-Watson was hit with a solution.
``I was praying.'' Walton-Watson recalled. ``I was unfulfilled with my career, and I asked the Lord what He purposed my life for.'' She says God gave her the vision of teen-aged girls and their small children living in her home.
A lot of people might have slammed their eyes shut at this sight, but Walton-Watson says she felt comfortable with what she had seen. The young accountant mixed pondering with praying, then sent an application to the state and became incorporated in May 1999.
This corporation that consisted of a woman and her town home realized it needed, in business lingo, to expand its employee base. Walton-Watson prayed again. She says the Lord provided names of seven church members, all who agreed to be board members.
Next came the fund-raisers: A bazaar, a sweetheart ball, an art show and more. Walton-Watson applied for government grants - federal, state, county. Several private foundations donated money. At this point, $20,000 is needed to close the gap to the shelter's opening.
When that happens, her town home will have a name: The House of Hope. It will be a haven for four teen mothers, referred by the state or county, and their children, all short of food, shelter, survival skills, self esteem - and hope. During an 18-month stay, young moms will be offered programs that include parenting and job skills, counseling and encouragement to finish high school. Delivering these goods will be a program director, a licensed social worker and trained counselors.
``Education is the heartbeat of House of Hope,'' Walton-Watson said.
She is stretching her vision southward and has researched possibilities for shelters in Hampton Roads. ``Norfolk has no transitional homes for teen mothers,'' she said.
But there is a need. The Norfolk Health Department's most recent statistics, from 1998, show 399 recorded pregnancies among Norfolk girls younger than 18. Of that number, nearly two-thirds chose to keep and raise their babies.
For more information on House of Hope, contact Walton-Watson at 703-393-9975.
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