Single Mother Assistance » Single Mother Financial Aid http://singlemotherassistance.net Learn all you need to know about getting single mother assistance Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:55:26 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0
Money for Single Moms http://singlemotherassistance.net/money-for-single-moms/ http://singlemotherassistance.net/money-for-single-moms/#comments Tue, 15 Mar 2011 00:38:50 +0000 admin http://singlemotherassistance.net/?p=263 If you’re a single mom in need of money, there are a number of avenues to explore. It’s not likely you’ll find a pile of cash somewhere (best to keep the lottery on the back burner), but using a combination of the ideas below, you might in time begin to get your budget back on track.

Earn More Money

The best way to improve your circumstances is to earn more money. Invest in some further education or training to become qualified for a better-paying job. Or start looking at ways to earn extra income at home during the evening or on weekends, so you can spend time with your kids while you’re working.  The links below will help get you started:

US Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (ETA)

See the “Find Job and Career Info” section to assess your skills, decide on a career that fits those skills, and prepare for your career:

Workforce/One Stop Centers

The ETA (above) partially funds Workforce and One Stop centers, a valuable resource for the job seeker in every state. You can visit these centers in person and get help from staff.

Grants And Scholarships

Financial aid is available through the government (see links above), but if you don’t find anything there, check out this website for another searchable database of grants and scholarships that might apply specifically to the single mother:

http://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarships-by-type/college-scholarships-and-grants-for-single-mothers/

Government Assistance

If you need some help to get by while you’re trying to improve your job situation, it might be an appropriate step to apply for government assistance to buy food, pay for housing, or underwrite your child care costs. The links below will direct you to the websites of government agencies (Federal and State) you can contact to get started on this process.

Benefits.gov

Official benefits website of the U.S. government. You can search for benefits by state, category, agency, or use a checklist-style Benefits Finder to locate benefits that might apply to you.

School Meals

There are many federally-funded programs for meals throughout the year. See the link below for a full description of what’s available, and how to get your children enrolled.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)

Formerly known as the Food Stamp program, SNAP will help you cut down on food costs.

Women, Infants, and Children (WIC)

WIC provides federal grants to states to help low-income pregnant women, and low-income women who have children up to age five. WIC provides the following benefits: A free health screening is provided to applicants, because a mother or child is eligible only if they are found to be “at nutritional risk” (in addition to other program requirements such as income)

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

The housing choice voucher program (more commonly known as Section 8 housing) is the major federal government program for helping low-income families afford decent private market housing…

To find more information about the voucher program (Section 8), see the link below.

The Information by State link below will get you closer to the actual office you’ll need to contact to inquire about this type of assistance in your area.

USDA – Rural Development / Housing & Community Facilities Programs (HCFP)

For people who live in rural areas. To find a Service Center in your area (by State), follow this link:

Housing Finance Agencies

Housing Finance Agencies offer a wide range of support and assistance to families in search of affordable housing.

Save Money

It’s always possible to save money, even if you think you’re already cutting it to the bone. Most people don’t realize how much they actually spend, and on what—they just know they never have enough. Track your expenses for a month to see where your money actually goes, then try to get by on less in the categories that are not “fixed”—like food, entertainment (cable TV and the Internet are two easy ways to cut back), and clothes.

Many people realize, after cutting expenses to what seems like an extreme, that their lives become more peaceful and pleasurable. First, because they are not stressing about finances; and second, because there are benefits to a more simple life, like quality family time spent cooking or sewing together, or increased exercise when they walk or bike instead of drive.

So give it a try—instead of buying bread at the store, learn to bake. Join a community garden and can your own vegetables. Instead of shopping for clothes, make your own. You might even find that you excel in some category of “doing it yourself”, and be able to earn income from selling what you make with your own hands.

Also, lots of community education programs pay people who can teach their neighbors how to do just what you might be good at, whether it’s the activities mentioned above, or some other skill you possess (yoga, computer skills, household repair, decorating).

Here are a few more ways to save money as a single mother, especially through medical and childcare assistance.

Health Care Assistance Programs

Medicaid/Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)

Your child or teen may qualify for no-cost or low-cost health insurance coverage through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Partnership for Prescription Assistance Program

This is a patient assistance program that may be able to lower your prescription drug costs, if you lack prescription coverage.

RxAssist

Another patient assistance program.

Drug Discount Cards

Drug discount cards are like coupons—you just present them when you make your prescription drug purchase. The following are links to a variety of these cards (which should be free):

Child Care Assistance Programs

Dependent Care Account

Offered through your employer (if they participate), this is a way to save money on medical costs. Contact your Human Resources department (or whoever handles payroll for your place of business) for advice about how much you can save using this account.

Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit

This is a non-refundable tax credit, meaning that if you do not earn enough income to pay federal taxes, you do not benefit from the credit (the government will not send you money—they will only reduce the amount you owe by the amount of the credit).

Many states offer a version of this credit (or in some cases a tax deduction). See what your state provides by accessing the state government website from the link below, and searching for “Child Care Tax Credit”:

State Child Care Assistance Programs

The website of the Child Care and Development Fund has many helpful links, including a Frequently Asked Questions page that is very manageable and informative:

Information by state:

Child Care Resource & Referral Agencies

Child Care Resource & Referral (CCR&R) Agencies exist in many communities, forming a network of information to help you explore the most affordable child-care options in your area.

The easiest way to access the CCR&R closest to you is to visit the website of Child Care Aware (http://www.childcareaware.org). Simply enter your zip code to bring up a list of agencies in your area.

Early Head Start/Head Start

YMCA Programs for Child Care

Find your local YMCA and ask about child care programs by following this link:

]]> http://singlemotherassistance.net/money-for-single-moms/feed/ 1 Financial Assistance for Single Mothers http://singlemotherassistance.net/financial-assistance-for-single-mothers/ http://singlemotherassistance.net/financial-assistance-for-single-mothers/#comments Fri, 03 Sep 2010 00:22:56 +0000 admin http://singlemotherassistance.net/?p=107 Financial assistance for single mothers is possible through a variety of government initiatives and private financial aid programs. This post, we’ll take a look at some of the specific programs as well as a general introduction to financial assistance. I try to offer as much relevant and real information in this post as possible, considering most of the articles I’ve seen on this topic are absolute garbage and don’t provide any real help.

Ok, first off, the primary financial assistance programs available comes down to the following: grants, scholarships, loans, and government (welfare) programs. But this list is by no means comprehensive. This article will try and cover all the major financial help for single mother options, though by no means is the information all inclusive.

Grants for Single Mothers

This topic has quite a bit of misinformation written about it. Grants are considered need-based awards. This means they are given out to people or organizations with financial need. Now first off: most government grants are given out to organizations and not to individuals. Government grants for individuals, at least from the federal government, are unusual, the exception being school grants and business grants.

If you are looking for business grants (which you may, if you are trying to start a business as a single mother), you may want to visit the government business website. You can also view a list of some of the government grants here.

Government grants, as stated, are usually for businesses, organizations, or students. You may be able to find state grants that are given out as financial assistance.

A Quick Look at some website giveaway programs of interest

You can however find a wide range of private scholarships for individuals. These are given out by schools, non-profit organizations, and even businesses. You may find specific scholarships just for single moms in the private sector. One recommended program is the 10k Scholarship for Working Adults. This is a free-to-sign up sweepstake giveaway offered by a website that gives out $10,000 each month to single moms, dads, or any working adult for school expenses. Considering that it only takes a couple minutes to fill out, it’s worth the time. There is even a similar program for dads, called the 10k Scholarship for Dads. And if you want one more such program, the 10k Scholarship Zone program is another.  These are only three such scholarship programs you can find in the private sector.

There are some other “private” programs that you can sign up for to get some help. I recommend signing up for the free PlanningFamily.com membership. Doing so will get you free baby stuff, printable grocery coupons, a parenting newsletter, helpful parenting articles and a chance of winning free diapers for a year. Worth signing up for that free stuff as there is no cost and every bit “helps” when you are struggling.

Another means of getting a chance at some “free stuff” is to fill out a quick survey for a website and get entered into a draw for some prize (you usually get some discount coupons too). If you have a bit of time, here are some “mom-related” giveaways you can take advantage of:


How to Apply for Government Grants

This is a topic that merits a post itself. Well here is the basic process:

  1. Find a grant you qualify for and is still currently available
  2. Fill out the grant application, providing all request information and any supplemental information required (you sometimes may be required to write a proposal or essay about what you will do with the funding, etc). You should buy a book on grant writing to help guide you through this process.
  3. Send out the grant proposal and wait.
  4. Repeat steps 1-3 with other grants you may qualify for

And that’s how you apply for a government grant. Now the main questions people ask here is WHERE to apply for a grant. Good questions indeed.

Here are a few sites to start with:

 

How to Apply for Private Grants

Private grants are harder to find, but potentially more lucrative in that they are given out to individuals. Your best bet is to do a web search for some of the private grant programs. I’ve already mentioned a few private grant programs like the 10k Scholarship for Moms.  You also might try looking at a scholarship searching website like scholarships.com or grab a list of scholarship programs for a college financial aid office.

NOTE: BEWARE OF GRANT SCAMS. There are a hideous amount of grant scams out there that take advantage of the desperate. I want to make this clear: there are no such thing as OBAMA GRANTS. There are government grant programs that are legit, but as stated, most federal grant programs target businesses and non-profit organizations, not individuals. So be very wary of any website or organization offering you some type of government grant. Very very few federal grants of this nature actually exist. Any website asking you for MONEY  to apply for a grant or claiming to offer guaranteed grants is flat out lying! You’ll simply lose the money you pay out for this “grant.”

One of the biggest scams is to get you to sign up for a grant program (which really offers you nothing you can’t get for free or do yourself), then get rebilled 50-100 bucks a month. While these are not really “scams” in that you don’t get ripped off, you are paying for something you don’t need to pay for and if you don’t cancel, you end up paying each month.

Scholarships for Single Mothers

These are like grants in the way that they are free money that does not need to be repaid. They differ than grants, however, in the way that scholarships are given out. A scholarship in the truest definition of the word is a merit-based award. Grants are need-based. Now there may be scholarships that are a combination of need and merit based, but a traditional scholarship is given out for something like academic excellence. Scholarships are usually offered either by schools themselves (many colleges have entrance scholarships and high GPA scholarships for students) or by scholarship Foundations. Some corporations may give out scholarships to employees who want to go back to school too.

You might look at applying for a web sweepstake giveaway like the ScholarshipZone’s 10k Scholarship. Note this sort of scholarship is NOT a “scholarship” but a sweepstake though.

How to Apply for a Scholarship?

It can be tricky getting a scholarship. Basically, you need to fill out as many scholarship applications as possible. This can be time consuming, but potentially lucrative. You also need to (usually) have good grades. While you may be able to qualify for some scholarships without good grades, the vast majority of the traditional scholarships reward academic excellence. You should start by educating yourself how to properly fill out a scholarship application. There are web tutorials on the subject and there are countless books written on how to write a scholarship application. Indeed, do yourself a favor and buy “how to get a scholarship” book on amazon or check one out from the library. There is quite an art to applying for a scholarship; knowing what to do can do a great deal towards helping you qualify for one.

The one sure piece of advice I can offer to you moms looking to get a scholarship is that you need to apply for as many of them as you can. Don’t apply for a couple and thing you are going to be assured any money. You need to get your hands on as many applications and start shooting them off. You should be able to grab a list of current scholarships from any college financial aid office (call them or visit the school’s website). And don’t forget to try your hand at the web-based scholarship giveaways either.

Government Financial Help Programs for Single Mothers

No doubt as a single mom, you are looking for some concrete financial aid programs that you can apply for. There are a lot of websites out there that just give fluff information that doesn’t help you get the help you need. Now, are there some legit government aid programs? The answer is yes, the government makes available some aid programs for the needy. The thing is, many of these programs are scattered around and it’s up to you to find one that you qualify for. There is no one stop financial help for single mothers application you can just fill out and get home assistance, food assistance, and monetary assistance (in the US…Canada has the welfare program which covers the basic financial and housing needs of every person…),

Food Stamp Program

This is the cornerstone of America’s unofficial welfare program. Each year, millions are given out in food stamps to financially needy families. Chances are, if you are a single mom in need, you will qualify for food stamps from the government.

Note these are only some of the government financial help programs out there. You can find out how to apply for these programs at your local Department of Human Services office. Note that each state has their own DHS website.

Families First/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

A very popular program that gives out small cash funds to families who are in need of money. The program specifically targets families that are struggling to make ends meet. Families that qualify usually have children. Keep in mind that this is not just “free money.” A parent must either work or train for a job for at least 30 hours each week and kids must be put into school and receive all the usual vaccinations kids at that age receive. So you might think of this program as a sort of supplement income for struggling families.

CHIP Program

Stands for the Children’s Health Insurance Program. This is a government insurance initiative to provide insurance for every child in every US state. The program is really designed for parents who simply lack the financial resources to pay for medical insurance for their children. The CHIP provides dental, vision, and medical coverage for kids. You pay a very small fee or no fee at all, depending on the situation.

Free or Reduced Meals Program

A large percentage of children only ever eat a properly nutritious meal at a school lunch. The government recognizes this and has developed a meal program to ensure kids get the proper food they need – even if they don’t get it at home. If a family makes less than a certain figure each year, they may qualify for this program. Children of qualified families will get either free or greatly price-reduced meals at lunchtimes.

WIC Program

The Women, Infants, and Children program is one of the more popular and successful government funded programs out there. This program targets financially needy moms. The way the program works is each month, coupons are given out for free items. These coupons can be traded in for basic necessities that children and pregnant/nursing mothers might need. The government backs this program with more funding than most other programs, so it’s easier to qualify for the WIC than other programs.

You may also find more financial help programs at the official government help website. Most of these programs will require you too look at your state assistance website to apply. I’ll try and post a list of state assistance contact info later, but for now, you’ll just have to google for your state’s state assistance info.

Private Financial Help Programs

If you’ve exhausted your government supply of financial help, it’s a good idea to look at what the private sector can offer you. I want to make this clear: you are far more likely to get “aid” in the form of goods and not money. It’s rather unlikely that you are going to find a private organization that’s just going to hand you a wad of cash. It may be possible through some sort of private grant for single mothers, but don’t bank on this. It’s far more likely that you will get  food items, clothing, counseling , job-training, and maybe even a temporary place to stay while you get your life on track. But direct cash? Unlikely.

Here are some potential “private” aid sources you can seek out.

Web-Based Giveaways

I talk a lot about these because it’s a legit way to get some “free stuff.” Now to be clear here, many of the websites that offer something for free are doing so because they eventually want you to buy something. That’s fine, but you can certainly sign up and get the free stuff and not buy anything.

I’ve mentioned the ScholarshipZone 10k Scholarship already, in which you enter into a draw for $10,000 to be used for school.

You can also get free stuff like baby samples of stuff, grocery coupons, etc. by signing up for a FamilyPlanning.com membership (don’t panic, it’s completely free). There are a number of other such website giveaway programs you can find online. It’s worth your time if you can get something free out of it.

Some more web-giveaways that may appeal to moms:

Financial Help for School Programs

If you want to go back to school, it is possible. It’s going to be hard as a single mom to go to college, but if you are willing to put in the work, you can do it. Realistically, as much as we’d love to just say there’s a sure-fire way of getting financial help to pay for ALL of your school, there really isn’t. You are going to probably have to get student loans, government financial aid, work a part time (or full time job), and apply for every scholarship under the sun.

A good place to start is the government financial aid website. Here are a couple useful links to help:

One possible alternative is to look at getting a degree online. I’m not talking about those bogus degrees where you pay money and get a “degree”, but a real, accredited online university. You can do your coursework from the comfort of your home (at more flexible hours) and it’s MUCH cheaper than attending a regular college. If you are a single mom, you should look into this. We recommend looking at Classes and Careers to help you find an online school. They also offer possible financial aid assistance for students too.

Food Banks for Single Mothers

If you need food and don’t have the cash, you don’t have to starve. One certain way to get some food as a single mother is to visit your local food bank. What is a food bank? It’s basically a center where people donate food. That food is given for free to people in financial need — people like yourself. These are a great resource for moms who need to feed a hungry family. Where to find a foodbank? I’ll compile a list in the future, but for now, you can go here to search for a local foodbank.

Charities for Single Mothers

There are a number of private charity programs. These programs aim at lending a helping hand to the needy — be it in the form of food, clothing, or advice. Many are religious-based.

This list is not exhaustive but rather gives a good overview of some of the more popular charity programs.

Your Local Church/Religious Organization

Many church organizations do offer assistance in the form of women’s shelters, charity aid, free foodstuff and so on. You should do a search in your area for churches and contact them (phone or website) to see if these services are offered. Don’t be too proud to seek out help! These places are a good way to get a helping hand when you need it.

Our Resource List

We have compiled a seriously HUGE resource list for mothers (and single parents) including things like healthcare, food, daycare, and charity that you will no doubt find useful.

Loans for Single Mothers

I generally advise single moms to stay away from loans unless they have a very specific reason why they are taking out a loan: starting a new business or going to school or some sort of temporary emergency. Outside of these reasons, you can land yourself in a world of trouble if you get a loan and don’t repay it. So beware.

Loans and Your Credit History: What’s the Relationship
Loans are also linked with your credit history. Basically the relationship between loans and credit history is this: if you have good credit, you can get hassle free loans with very good interest rates; if you have bad credit, you will (usually) have trouble getting a loan and/or your will get stuck with a very high interest rate. If you have any plans on getting a loan other then a payday or student loan, try,try,try to maintain a good credit score. Generally, good credit is considered a score of 640 and higher. A credit score of 620 is generally the dividing line between good and bad credit. If you don’t know your credit score, you MUST find out to see where you stand. You can check your credit score for free online or you can write a request to all 3 of the major credit score agencies and ask for a report to be sent to you (this can take a while, but it’s free at least). You can request one free one each year from all three major credit agencies (equifax, etc).

There are generally a few basic categories of loans out there.

Payday Loans

These are a big one and popular. These are also called cash advance loans or paycheck loans. In principle they are to “tide” you over between paychecks. You usually write a post dated check to the payday loan company and the company cashes the check at that period. Sometimes you simply take out the loan and make the payment directly. Payday loans do have their place – you can take out a cash advance to pay for some emergency medical/dental procedure or fix up your car so you can go to work. One online payday loan lender that has a good reputation is 60 Minute Payday which is a no credit check online payday loan lender.

Now, it’s imperative that you repay your payday loan as soon as possible. Payday loans have the highest interest rates out of any loans and if you miss payments, it only takes a few months for your interest to overtake the actual principal amount of your loan! If this happens, payday loan consolidation is about the only way you can get out of financial difficult here.

An alternative to a payday loan is to take out a credit card cash advance, which functions like payday loan. However you still pay high interest (usually 19-23 percent or whatever rate your credit card gives out).

The best solution is to usually take out a personal line of credit which has the lowest interest rate. But you ability to do this will often depend on your credit history and relationship with a bank.

Auto Loans

These are loans you can get that will help you buy a car. You get these from an auto loan dealership, bank, or online auto loan company. Credit history here is pretty important since it will determine your interest rate on the loan. If you have bad credit, you may find you cannot take out a traditional loan from a bank or car dealership. If this is the case, you can use an online bad credit auto loan lender.

Home Loans

Also called mortgage loans. It used to be easier to take out these kind of loans, but the 2008-2010 recession has made it extremely difficult to get a mortgage. These days, you need to have really good credit and a solid employment history to get a mortgage loan. There are options if you have bad credit, but very few. If you have good credit and a stable job, then your best bet is to talk to a bank you’ve had a relationship with about your loan options. It’s hard to get credit in this economy with the Great Recession still in full force, but loans are still possible if you meet the now strict requirements.

If you have bad credit and you want a mortgage loan, your best bet will probably the FHA Home Loan. You can check with LendingTree.com to see if you qualify.

If you are a single mother seriously looking at a mortgage, we suggest you read our full blown mortgage guide for single mothers.

Student Loans

The only loans I suggest single moms get are student loans. This is because you don’t have to have any sort of credit history to get a federal student loan (in both Canada and the US). A student loan is also an investment in your education – you get a degree which will help you qualify for a better job and better support your children. Federal student loans have the lowest interest rates out of any loan and have a flexible repayment schedule.

If you are an American, you can apply for federal student loans by filling out the FAFSA application. If you are a Canadian, you can visit the Canada Student Loan Program to apply. There are also a host of private student loans you can apply for such as Signature student loans and Chase student loans (both in the US). Keep in mind, if you want one of these loans, you generally either need to have good credit history or have a cosigner with good credit cosign for you. US Federal Student Loans (and the Canadian version of them) don’t require good credit.

If you have bad credit, then you can look at a private student loan lender who may lend to you despite your credit problems. You can use a service like PrivateStudentLoans.com to help you find such a student loan.

Work at Home Jobs

Another source of financial help for single moms is…the single mom herself. If you can supplement your income with a part time job of sorts, it can make a world of difference. Now, if you are working full time, you might not have time to get another part time job, but there are some work at home opportunities to bring in some extra coin. Here are some ideas:

  • Web Content Writer — you write articles for websites. You can hire yourself out on places like RealWritingJobs.com. It’s easy to build up a part time income if you write articles for web sites. If you are a good writer, you can build up a good list of regular clients. It’s freelance work, but you can pay the bills. Keep in mind when you start out, you are going to have to hustle for some work.
  • Work At Home Programs (Paid surveys, Online businesses etc)– there are plenty of work at home programs out there that you can try out. Most are complete crap and scams, but a few are legit. I personally recommend looking at the Paid Surveys program. This is basically a program where you are hired online to fill out surveys. Each survey you fil out nets you a certain amount of money — the more you fill out, the more money you make. It’s not a passive income, but if you spend the time, it’s money. Be leery of anything else — I haven’t seen too much out there that’s legit and doesn’t just take your money and offer nothing in return.
  • Website Development — this takes some training, but it’s possible to learn how to develop websites and work part time on the side. If you can’t go back to school or do night classes at your local community college, then consider an online university which offers more schedule flexibly than an ordinary school. Websites like FindMyDegree.com are great for matching you with an online school that you can training for a new career (such as website development).
  • Internet Marketing — this involves creating websites and marketing products of some sort on them. This is a growing field today with lots of information available online about the topic. It’s takes a lot of time and effort to generate an online income from websites, but it’s possible if you know what you are doing. Again, internet marketing requires some real work ethic and creativity on your part in many cases, but the payoff can be a new, lucrative career. There are a ton of such programs around, but frankly, most of them are crap and scams and you’ll never make a dime. One LEGIT program, if you are keen, is The Keyword Academy. You’ll pay 30 bucks a month to be a member, but it’s the only real online training program out there that actually teachings people how to make a legit living online.

So there we go, probably the web’s finest and most comprehensive article on getting financial assistance for single mothers! I hope you moms found it useful! If you have any more suggestions as to work at home programs of financial aid programs, let me know! Be sure to check out some of the other helpful pages, such as the single mother resources page.

]]> http://singlemotherassistance.net/financial-assistance-for-single-mothers/feed/ 1 Scholarships for Children of Single Mothers: Is it Possible? http://singlemotherassistance.net/scholarships-for-children-of-single-mothers-is-it-possible/ http://singlemotherassistance.net/scholarships-for-children-of-single-mothers-is-it-possible/#comments Fri, 18 Jun 2010 04:39:26 +0000 admin http://singlemotherassistance.net/?p=40 As a single mother, life will throw a lot of topics at you, none will be more important than your child’s education. Scholarships for children for single mothers are a great way of taking the financial pressure off of you and seeing that your child gets a professional and efficient standard of education for the entirety of their school career.

The financial pressures that you have in your life will be massive and if you do not have enough money to pay for your child’s education then this can make you feel very guilty and worry even more than you normally do. However, always remember that there are a lot of ways that you can get your child into the education system. You will have to be ready to fight on their behalf but it is not impossible to do and they will eventually be very grateful for you putting in the effort.

This article will look at a few scholarship options that will be immediately available to you. Always remember that scholarships are very popular and you will need to be ready for a very long application process if you are going to get anywhere. Education can open the door to every thing else so be prepared and be ready to fight for your child’s future.

The first step you should always take is to go straight to the institution and see what scholarships they have available. This is a sensible option to take because they will tell you straight away if and how you can apply for them. Be advised that in some cases your child may have to take an intelligence test and you will probably be asked by most schools to prove that you cannot pay the education fees yourself.

The second step you should consider is going straight to the government. There are people who are in jobs to help you and a phone call can enlighten you to a number of scholarships. There are too many to list in a single article but if you spend the time on the phone talking to people, then you can gradually start to make a list of scholarships that you are legally entitled to apply for.

The third step is the medium of the internet. The internet is by far and away the biggest information based resource that you will have at your disposal and websites such as singleparents.about.com can tell you about a number of scholarship programs that you can possibly look in to. However, it is always better to talk to an actual human being who can crush your worries, but never ignore this resource.

The earliest form of education that your child receives will be the most important. Therefore, scholarships for children for single mothers is a topic that you should always stay on top of. Do not let yourself get down over financial worry and pressure and be ready to fight for your child’s education. They will eventually pay you back for your effort.

]]> http://singlemotherassistance.net/scholarships-for-children-of-single-mothers-is-it-possible/feed/ 0 Single Mother Assistance http://singlemotherassistance.net/single-mother-assistance/ http://singlemotherassistance.net/single-mother-assistance/#comments Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:59:42 +0000 admin http://singlemotherassistance.net/?p=8

Times are tough, money is scarce, and the economy is predicted to remain bad for years to come. Single mothers are some of the most vulnerable people to a bad economy. Why? Single moms typically don’t have good jobs and are burdened with the responsibility of children. For most mothers who are making their own way in life, the future can be bleak indeed. But, it doesn’t have to be this case. Single mother assistance is out there for moms who just need a bit of a helping hand.

Single mother assistance can come in the form of peer help, financial help, or just simple advice, such as this website offers. The one thing we have to stress to mothers looking for help is that YOU are going to have to take responsibility for your life. If you are waiting for handouts or someone to save you, you are going to wait a long time.

The best way to get assistance as a single mother is to find it yourself. If you are a struggling mother, you probably know this better than anyone else. Just because you need help, doesn’t mean the government or anyone else is going to bang down your door to offer you the help you need. You are going to have to get out there and seek out that help yourself.

Fortunately, for those mothers who are willing to spend time seeking the help they need, there is help. Many single moms have often been abused and are in need of emotional help. There are all sorts of programs that can help you – battered women shelters, religious groups offering aid for single mothers in need, and government-sponsored peer support. The best way to find these centers are to look online and search out what sort of single mother help is offered in your area.

If you are looking for single mother financial assistance, there is plenty to be had if you spend the time looking around for it. One of the best sources for single mother assistance is that actual government. You can get health insurance, grants, financial aid for school, and even housing assistance in some cases.

Let’s look at some of the options for single mother help.

Health Insurance for Single Mothers

No doubt as a single mother, the health of both you and your children is pretty important. If your kids get sick and you don’t have the money, it can be absolutely terrifying. The good news is there are some government health insurance programs that can give your children basic health care. There are also some cheap health insurance options offered by private companies  that can save you money off regular insurance.

For single mother health insurance programs, there are basically two government options:

  • State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) – This government program gives funds to states that have approved programs that provide health insurance to uninsured children. Children (who are not insured) up to the age of 19 may be covered with this program. For families that don’t meet Medicaid’s income requirements may qualify for SCHIP.
  • Medicaid — The main government health-insurance for low-income families. To qualify you may have one of the following: high medical bills, you recieve Supplemental Security Income (SSI), you are considered a low income and meet the government-qualifications.

Government Grant Assistance for Single Mothers

Grants are actually a much misunderstood form of government support. Some people assume that grants are just freely given out by the government. This is partially untrue. Grants are free, yes, but you have to qualify for them first and then you have to apply for them. Even then, there is no guarantee that you get grant approval.

Grants are really designed for a single purpose – to help someone accomplish something specific. This is why you see many business grants, school grants, or home improvement grants. The government’s reasoning is that grants can be used to improve a person’s productivity in some way, or allow a person to accomplish something that will help improve their life in some way (and reduce the chance of needing future government help).

Now there are actually very few government grants for individuals outside of education. But there are a whole wack of state grants and financial assistance programs that a single mother, being a low income individual in most cases, may qualify for.

The best way to find government grants for single mothers is to look to see what sort of state assistance you can find. You can also do your own search online and check out any grant offers you discover on your own from private sources. It’s important that you look at as many grant offers you spot online as possible. The more grants you look at, the more of a chance you will find a grant that you actually qualify for, and the more grants you can apply for. Basically, the more grants you send out, the higher the chance you have of getting grant funding you need.

Here are a few well known state assistance programs single moms can take advantage of.

Families First/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families — A government program that hands out cash (usually small sums) to needy families. To qualify, you must work at least 30 hours a week or participate in some kind of job training program.

Free or Reduced Meals Program — The government believes that every child should have the nutrition they need to grow up healthy. Surveys show that for some children, the only proper nutrition they get in their diet is at school. The Free or Reduced Meals program provides low income families free or reduced school lunch meals.

WIC Program– For this program, the government gives out coupons each month to needy families. The coupons change each month and aim to deliver items that pregnant women or young children need.

Food Stamps–One of the oldest federal assistance programs and one of the most popular. Food stamps provide needy families with a means to supplement their food through government assistance.

Besides government grants, there are private grants to be had too – so don’t just limit yourself to looking at the government websites. Private grants are typically harder to qualify for – at least the popular ones are – but its well worth your time checking some of them out and sending in an application. If you really spend some time looking around for private grants for mothers, you can sometimes turn up grants few other people know about. These hard to find grants can really be golden because you stand a very good chance of getting the money. Grants, when used for the right purpose like getting an education, can be a great source for single mother assistance.

Education Assistance for Single Mothers

For single mothers wanting to get an education, there are a whole wack of programs out there to take advantage of. The government loves funding education because it’s one of the best paths to improving an individual’s economic situation while reducing reliance on government help programs. If you are a single mother in need of school financial aid, here area couple programs to take advantage of.

  • Stafford Student Loans — The backbone Federal Student Loan program
  • Perkins Student Loans — Another federal student loan
  • Pell Grant — Free grant money for low income students

To qualify for government financial aid, you MUST fill out the FAFSA application.

There are also a whole range of private financial aid programs low-income students can take advantage of. For example, single mothers may look at applying for the ScholarshipZone 10k Scholarship program which offers a $10,000 draw every month.

Housing Assistance for Single Mothers

The government also provides housing assistance programs. These may be in the form of housing vouchers, grants for buying a new home, or even low-income housing options. For more information you should check out the government’s HUD webpage.

Final Word on Single Mother Assistance

As a single mother looking for help, you don’t need to be afraid that there are no resources to help you out. There are plenty of resources. Your best bet is to use the internet to aid your search for single mother help. Look for grants, scholarships, and other financial aid  sources. Make sure you visit website dedicated to giving free advice for single mothers. Join a community of like-minded mothers. You can find a lot of help out there if you just look. Single mother assistance is possible — you just need to look.

]]> http://singlemotherassistance.net/single-mother-assistance/feed/ 6 Single Mother Help http://singlemotherassistance.net/single-mother-help/ http://singlemotherassistance.net/single-mother-help/#comments Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:57:06 +0000 admin http://singlemotherassistance.net/?p=6

If you are struggling to make ends meet as a single mom, don’t stress. There IS single mother help for you out there.

There are some tangible things you can look for as a single mother who is struggling to make ends meet. We are going to talk about some of these solutions now. The best way to get the money you need as a single mother is to get a better job.

The reason why you struggle financially is you don’t have an income that can support a comfortable lifestyle. Your goal should be to bring in an income that will allow you to live in comfort.

How can you do this? Well, the obvious way is to find a better job as a single mother. It’s easier said then done. Currently, the economy is not good for jobs. While you can, if you do have a job, try applying for a better job that pays more, you may find it hard to get hired.

What you can do though is look at getting the education or skill set to qualify yourself for a better job. How can you do this? The best way is to go back to school Now, before you claim it’s too expensive or difficult to go back to school as a single mother, rest assured you certainly don’t have to fund college out of your own pocket.

There are plenty of resources out there that you can avail yourself on to help pay for your college education: government grants for single mothers, college grants for single mothers, financial aid programs for mothers, private grants for single mothers, and even student loans for single mothers.

Now the key to securing this funding is to look online for the resources you need. You can start off with the government grant website – this is the best source for finding single mom government grants. For single mom college grants for women, you can look at the financial aid website for colleges to see what’s available – there usually are a few grants available here. And for private grants, you can spend time looking around on the web, checking out grant offers.

The best advice we can give you for actually getting a grant is to apply for as many as possible. This means you will need to check out every grant offer you spot online. Most grants you will not qualify for, but you will for some – the grants you do qualify for, you can send off an application. Make sure when sending your grant application off that you include accurate, honest information. If supplemental documentation is required, make sure you actually include it. If you fill out a grant application incorrectly, you won’t be given a grant.

Though financial aid for mothers, you can attend school without having to put much down in terms of your own money. It may be possible to completely cover the cost of your college education as a single mother.

Going back to school as a mother with children is the best thing you can do for your career. If you can’t go back to school, however, then you need to supplement your income in other ways. You should look at starting a new business as a single mom. While this may seem daunting, you can do it. Avail yourself of all the free business help offered on the web. You also don’t need to start a physical business. You can start a virtual business. There are plenty of ways to make money online.


Single mother help is available – you just need to spend the time looking for it. If you are willing to do some searching and willing to commit yourself to improving your situation, you will find plenty of single mother financial aid options out there – grants for college, grants for new businesses, etc. The key is to take your own destiny into your own hands.

]]> http://singlemotherassistance.net/single-mother-help/feed/ 0 Assistance for Single Mothers http://singlemotherassistance.net/assistance-for-single-mothers/ http://singlemotherassistance.net/assistance-for-single-mothers/#comments Sat, 29 Aug 2009 06:55:25 +0000 admin http://singlemotherassistance.net/?p=4 Looking for assistance for single mothers? Well, there’s plenty to be had. As a single mother, I know what it’s like to struggle. I have raised a family by myself and I know exactly what you can go throw if you struggle. I’ve asked the same questions you may have and I’ve been able to find some answers. Single mother assistance is readily available for mothers are willing to look for it online.

One of the biggest issues a single mother faces is the issue of money. As single mother, money is scarce – I know it was for me. The reason is that us single moms tent to be working jobs that pay minimum wage. Raising a family on minimum wage and by yourself is tough – very tough. Nickels and dimes mean a big deal if you are in this situation.

The temptation here is to look for some easy solution; some quick wade of cash that will solve your problem. However, most moms fail to look at the long term solution – how to fix your financial problems for good. It all comes down to having a better job.

If you can get a career job as a single mother, many of your financial problems will disappear. However, getting such a job can be all but impossible unless you go back to school or get some sort of job training program.

You may wonder how you can pay for this type of program. The answer is by seeking out single mother college scholarships and single mother college grants. I was able to attend school without paying a cent of my own money, just from the variety of scholarships and grants I found. I want to spend this article talking about how to pay for college as a single mother. Getting a college education is tough, but it’s also one of the best ways to ensure that you actually get a good paying job.

Basically, you have three financial aid for single mother options out there: student loans for single mothers, grants for single mothers, and scholarships for single mothers. Many people opt to take out student loans. The government, through it’s federal student loan program, offers some very good student loans. The Stafford loan and the perkin loans are very generous in terms of the interest rates. However, as a struggling mother, paying back a huge loan is not the ideal situation. An alternative is to look at getting both private government grants and scholarships. Some of these financial aid packages will be for single mothers and some will be general ones.

However, you need to apply for as many of these as possible to ensure you get as much funding as possible. I found the government grants for single moms particularly easy to apply for. You can visit the official government website to look for these. Private grants and scholarships are often offered by the college you wish to attend, or by some 3rd party – usually a non profit organization. I managed to receive quite a lot of grant and scholarship funding by doing a search online and checking out every single scholarship and grant offer I found, then applying for it. Most of the time, I did not get the grant or scholarship, but once in a while, I would. These “once in a whiles” really started to add up.

My advice for you all mothers looking for single mother assistance is to be proactive in your search for help. Don’t just sit around and wait for help to fall in your lap. Think about the long term solution to your problems and actively work for it. In my case, college proved to be what I needed to ensure a financial future for myself and my two children. Your situation may be different, but at the end of the day, you will need to take some decisive action – go back to college, look for a better job, actively hunt down grants and scholarships, etc. Don’t give up though – you can improve your situation!

If you are looking specifically for housing assistance for single mothers, we suggest you read our housing resources for single moms article — there is a huge list of links and phone numbers of organizations that can help you.

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