How to Build Support for Single-Parent Mothers
As the Great Recession lumbers into 2010, New York City needs more resources and more support for single-parent mothers.
More than one in four children in the city are living in poverty, according to the New York Coalition Against Hunger. City government reports that two of every three children in poverty live in single-parent households, which are usually led by mothers.
While local and national government officials wrangle about expanding assistance programs and the Earned Income Tax Credit, nonprofits are doing their best to pick up the slack by directly targeting single-parent mothers for support.
One example is Raising Him Alone, a nonprofit that provides access to resources for single mothers raising boys. Raising Him Alone has offices in Baltimore and in Newark, from which it serves the New York-New Jersey area.
Matt Stevens, a co-founder and leader of the Newark office, said he receives 40-50 e-mails per day from single-parent mothers desperate for help. Mothers often speak of being abused by their sons or not knowing how to get their sons off the streets. Once he was approached by a grandmother in Brooklyn raising six grandsons on her own.
“There’s no quick fix,” he said during a recent interview. “You won’t solve these problems by just getting a mentor.”
Stevens and co-founder David Miller in Baltimore act primarily as information sources and as facilitators. They can link mothers to parenting, social service, financial literacy, and other resources anywhere in the country within 24-48 hours.
“We want to make sure that mothers who need help have someplace to go tomorrow,” Stevens said.
Webinars, articles, and YouTube videos on Raising Him Alone’s website offer resource listings and helpful tips, such as how to have discussions with children about sex or drugs. Single mothers also connect to one another through the nonprofit’s Facebook page and through workshops and networking activities. It has a database of over 4,700 mothers in just a year and a half of operation.
“One of our goals is to create safe places where moms can open up and support each other,” Stevens said.
The Open Society Institute has spotlighted the organization with a sizable grant as part of its Campaign for Black Male Achievement. Other funders are jumping on board, and overwhelming demand from mothers in 2009 has prompted Stevens and Miller to possibly open more offices in 2010.
The work of Raising Him Alone and other nonprofits serve as examples of how to respond to the considerable needs of single parent mothers in the city and across the nation. Although nonprofits cannot replace the role of government, they can point the way to more direct action and show us how to best make use of technology and limited funding as we move into a new decade.
photo: Mother and Daughter by bondidwhat via Flickr CC
