Eighteen years ago, Gina Baker-Powell was a high school graduate looking forward to life ahead. She had just landed a full-time job and was settling into a routine.

One day, that all changed. The 19-year-old single woman learned she was pregnant.

Baker-Powell said she lost her job at a factory because pregnant women weren't allowed to work on the floor.

"I was jobless. I lived with my mom," she said.

Her mother's friend told her about Moore Norman Technology Center's Options program which helps unwed pregnant women, single mothers or fathers and displaced homemakers who need career skills, education and counseling.

"They pretty much changed my entire life," she said.

MNTC's Options program will celebrate its 30th anniversary at a reception Tuesday at the Franklin Road campus.

Baker-Powell said she plans to attend Tuesday's reception and celebrate a program that helped her turn her life around.

"They were full of encouragement and ideas," she said.

Baker-Powell said life wasn't easy as an unwed mother with an infant. There was no money for a car, and she wondered how she would get an education and provide for her child.

"At Moore Norman Technology Center, they provided transportation," she said.

The mother said she didn't have to worry about finding a ride to school or taking her child to day care, and the program allowed Options students to purchase clothes with credits from the DECA store.

"They knew every need you were going to be facing without a job," she said.

"I was able to get my training without my car. I remember buying my first car and being very grateful."

Baker-Powell said teachers and counselors gave her hope that she could one day become independent and hold down a well-paying job.