FREE Daycare Being Provided For Single Mothers!

Since 1993 this organization has been giving babies, toddlers, and pre-schoolers a stable start in life while helping their young mothers to start over. Says one single mother who is now engaged to be married, "....played a role in my life that no other entity could. It nurtures you. It makes sure you can stay on track to become an asset to the community." She is one of the success stories of this organization that has one of seven programs in four states that provide free child care so that low-income, single mothers can finish school. Typically, about half of them are in high school — girls as young as 13 or 14!

According to a spokesperson, "This program isn’t a handout; the free child care comes with strings. Moms have to make a commitment to attend school full time, earn passing grades, volunteer two hours a week at the organization, attend and participate in weekly parent meetings, and observe various house rules."

If the participant doesn’t hold up her end of the bargain, she’ll be asked to leave the program — making room for someone else who is in desperate need of a hand. There are many more single mothers waiting to get into our program right now.

"We try to offer stability and build responsibility. They have to learn to be a woman of their word, to be responsible, to give back. We help them become whole as a young woman and a better parent. They leave as adults. They’re beautiful inside and out."

Says one graduate of the program, while others judged her for becoming pregnant at an early age, the organization "embraced who I was and who my son was...They made me feel like a real person, not just someone they were putting through a system. It was a place to turn for help with anything." With the organization providing free child care for her, the woman graduated and went on to college on a full scholarship, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in education.

Says another, "I can tell you that without I probably wouldn’t be graduating with a master’s degree this year," she said, pointing to the difficulty of dealing alone with the twin stresses of motherhood and school. "It’s helpful to get through those hard times when there are other people around you in the same situation, and there are people telling you, ‘You can do this,’ when you feel as though you can’t."

Meanwhile, their kids are developing in a child-care program that’s earned a top, three-star rating. The ratings program grades child-care agencies on such factors as staff-to-child ratios, and staff education and familiarity with early learning standards.

Another mother who participated in the program says, "Anything that I need they have for me including diapers, clothing, and food, getting help with her homework, doing her laundry when her washer and dryer were broken, and finding comfort in discussions with the other moms. You think you’re the only one in a certain situation, but you’re not. Everybody is going through the same situation."

The program strives to create scholarship programs, counseling, and referrals to community agencies for problems the staff isn’t able to address. Among the payoffs: fewer unwanted pregnancies.

The organization operates on a budget of $460,000, money that comes from grants, contributions, fund-raisers, and the United Way. It receives no government funding, and stretches its dollars with the help of donations of food, diapers, cleaning supplies, and other items from the community.