There is a non-profit organization that gives child-care scholarships to low-income single mothers who want to continue with their education.
Founded by a woman whose single mom never got a chance to go to college, she asks her potential scholarship winners "How are you going to support yourself and your child now that the baby's here?"
Although she discovered plenty of programs to help pay for classes she didn't find many that help fund child care for the single mother. "It's a major expense. A family with an infant in a child-care center typically is expected to pay $4,500 to $14,600 a year. For young mothers, many of whom are already dealing with a pile of guilt and shame to go with financial debt, getting help with child care may be just the thing they need to get them over the hump."
Through grants and fund-raising, her organization has supported about 500 single parents -- moms along with a few dads -- in 11 years. According to one recipient who gave birth to her daughter when she was only 14, "Before I got the scholarship, I wasn't even sure if I could go to college, because I couldn't live at home." Now after graduating from college the foundation has extended her scholarship through law school. Today she works as a lawyer who specializes in child-care law and other issues affecting low-income women.
