Shalome Musignac might not have finished her college career without the help of Parent Place.

Musignac found herself pregnant at 19, when she was an undeclared student at Des Moines Area Community College. The father of her child was very unsupportive and she chose to return to her family in Puerto Rico to welcome her baby into the world.

Musignac and her son Jamil returned to Iowa four months after his birth. She was interested in finishing her education.

Upon returning to DMACC, Musignac found she couldn’t connect with her fellow students and decided to transfer to Iowa State at semester. She found herself in a similar situation at Iowa State.

“I transferred from DMACC to Iowa State at semester and when I first came here I didn’t feel quite connected with the other students,” Musignac said. “They were talking about subjects and concerns that were different from mine, as I was a young parent.”

Three years and another child later, Musignac finally found People Place — a parent group with an early childhood center. It was here that Musignac finally found a connection with others. She came across Parent Place when she did an internship there for her major, which is child, adult and family services.

“Places like People Place are needed and should really be taken advantage of,” Musignac said. “Being so young, younger parents only know so much and there is not enough support or education without People Place.”

Musignac, now a senior double majoring in child, adult, and family services as well as sociology, will be graduating in December. She said People Place has taught her how to be a better parent as well as a better person.

People Place is a program that is part of Lutheran Services of Iowa, which provides services to people of all ages, genders, nationalities, religions, ethnicity and sexual orientations.

Iowa State will be working with LSI on Saturday to put on the Blue Sky Days 5k run/walk. The walk will raise money for LSI to benefit the parents and children it serves.

“There are so many opportunities to help the community and show you are able to help. LSI helps so many people,” Musignac said. “It is involved with youth, people with disabilities, parents and helps out so much in the community. You run and walk everyday. Why not do it for somebody who it can help?”

As Musignac’s involvement with the program shows, LSI helps provide resources and services to members of the community who find themselves in need of it for a variety of reasons.