In 1996, Dolly Parton launched an exciting new effort, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, to benefit the children of her home county in East Tennessee, USA. Dolly’s vision was to foster a love of reading among her county’s preschool children and their families by providing them with the gift of a specially selected book each month.  By mailing high quality, age-appropriate books directly to their homes, she wanted children to be excited about books and to feel the magic that books can create. Moreover, she could insure that every child would have books, regardless of their family’s income.

Dolly’s Imagination Library became so popular that in the year 2000 she announced that she would make the program available for replication to any community that was willing to partner with her to support it locally.  Since the initial program launch in the United States, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library has gone from just a few dozen books to nearly 40,000,000 books mailed to children in the United States, into Canada and across the proverbial pond into the United Kingdom!

To register your child (if the program is available in your community): https://usa.imaginationlibrary.com/register_my_child.php

When you’re a single mother, you know that everyday life can be mighty hard.  However, if you’re a single parent in an abusive situation, it can become unlivable – and dangerous for your safety. Protecting yourself and you children is priority number one, and if you are preparing to leave an abuser, you need to planand know where you will go once you are ready to leave. Sometimes people need to leave a particularly scary situation secretly, and there are shelters that help you with that, too.

Other non-violent situations can occur that may cause women to seek shelters.  For example, if you are a single mother and you are facing eviction, then you’ll need a shelter while you seek permanent housing for yourself and your little ones. Many non-profit organizations and government programs offer emergency shelters for women, and some agencies even offer longer-term places to live while you figure out your next steps.

Read more: http://realsinglemothers.com/housing-assistance-for-single-mothers/shelters-for-single-mothers.html

Read more: http://www.singlemamanyc.com/2011/09/hope.html

For many of single moms, how to earn a living while spending the most amount of time with our children that we can is of utmost importance to us.  Your Single Parenting was made aware of an interesting new job expo being held here in New York City, The JobProsper Flexible & Work From Home Expo.  Please see below for all of the details you will need to attend this FREE expo, and for web details for those of you who don’t live in the NYC area.

View The JobProsper YouTube Video Here

Free
Registration at www.jobprosperexpo.com or www.jobprosper.com

Three single moms have found one another to lean on and share with.

They call their gatherings Single Mama Mondays, a night when dinner is thrown together at one of the three women’s houses. Just two of the four food groups are required, and those cheap frozen pizza rolls by Totino’s are an acceptable last resort.

“One night we ate bread and stole the leftover macaroni and cheese off the kids’ plates,” Katie Clifton said. “The only reason we have salad at all tonight is because you’re here,” she told a visitor.

Read more: http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/298779

O’LEARY — Ashley Drake readily admits her wall used to go up when things got
difficult.

“They brought that wall down,” Drake said of her involvement in the Adventure
Group’s Single Moms program.

Now she’s getting set to enter into an upgrading program so she can get into a two-year BioScience program.

“They made me see what I’m capable of. They gave me my confidence back, to
show me that I can go back to school,” Drake said.

Read more: http://www.journalpioneer.com/News/Local/2011-08-31/article-2737176/Federal-government-announces-funding-for-women%26rsquo%3Bs-programs/1

Being a single parent can be tough, especially when one parent fails to pay child support.  But a new website is cracking down on deadbeat moms and dads, by providing a searchable data base that currently has over 53,000 people listed as failing to pay up.

Read more: http://www.katc.com/news/website-tracks-deadbeat-parents/

The Independent Seed Foundation is a non-profit dedicated to providing hope through emotional and financial assistance to single mothers fighting life-threatening diseases. Donations to Independent Seed are tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law. 90% of public donations go directly to supporting the families.

Read more: http://www.independentseed.org/

Life isn’t easy for single moms, many of whom struggle financially and
who need a lot of support in order to make a decent life for themselves
and their children.  We asked a couple of moms who have managed to get
an education and keep the kids in order, How do they do it?

Read more: http://danbury.patch.com/articles/moms-q-a-moms-who-need-help-and-where-to-get-it