Single mothers deal with worries about money even when the economy is good, let alone in one that is bad and has been bad for a while. Having the weight of their child’s future resting on their shoulders with no one else to help can take a tremendous emotional toll, and with that toll there will come stresses on the parenting relationship.
There are few worse places to raise a child than in a home where destitution can come from missing a single work day. The problems faced by single mothers today range from hunger to unemployment to raising children in squalid, crime-filled neighborhoods. The ways out are not as simple as they may seem to many who have never been in that situation.
financial assistance for single mothers
Hard work can help, but often hard work can just keep a person in a state of perpetually just getting by. Most of the working poor are hard workers and yet they are still poor. What are the options then? Should a single mother just throw in the towel? Of course not. This is not an option because she is not alone. She has someone depending on her for food and shelter.
The first thing she needs to do is to seek out those organizations that provide financial assistance to single mothers, but it is not enough just have money, there needs to be a change in circumstances that can improve the quality of life for the mother and her children. One way out of the cycle of poverty is education.
Financial assistance for single mothers in the form of scholarships
Federal Pell grants are offered to people from low income households. These are not student loans. Pell grants pay a student’s way through college and upon graduation there is no requirement that the grant be repaid. These are not specifically geared towards single mothers, but one who is struggling to stay afloat financially definitely falls into the category at which Pell grants are aimed. To qualify for a Pell Grant an applicant must be from a household whose income is less than the federal poverty guideline. A Pell grant provides a single mother with a opportunity to better the lot of her family, and as better educated parents tend to raise kids who do better academically, the impact can be beneficial for multiple generations.
Financial assistance for single mothers from JCF
For those younger single mothers in high school there are many opportunities available if they choose to take advantage of them. The Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholarship, for example, can be a source of financial assistance for single mothers . The foundation provides $75,000 to minority students who are graduating high school. Again, it is for all minority students and not geared specifically at single mothers, but they are still eligible.
Grants from the Patsy Mink Foundation
The Patsy Mink Foundation provides five annual grants of $2,000 as financial assistance to single mothers as well as pothers with a partner, who are pursuing some form of education. The mother must, however, be at least 17 years old and enrolled in a skills training program during the year for which she is applying. Her children will need to be under 18 and she must make less than $17,500 if her family only has two people, less than $22,000 for a family of three and less than $26,500 if the family has four.