Grants for Single Moms

Getting a grant as a single mother can seem like a daunting and lengthy process. A grant for single mothers can open a door to other areas and free up your time and energy to be focused completely on your child. There are so many ways to go about getting a grant and a successful application can hold many benefits.

There will never be any greater pressure in life than finding yourself in the situation where you have to care for your child as well as concentrating on your own life. This can create huge levels of pressure and stress that can be eradicated with a successful grant application. Caring for a child covers a lot of areas. Money will be needed to feed them, clothe them and pay for their education.

Therefore it is important that you are fully aware of the grant programs on offer and the way to go about applying for them. Never forget that grants are there to help you and although it may seem like the process is not designed in your favor, it really is.

School scholarships or grants are a great way to help out with education. They can even benefit both you and your child. If you earn a very low income then there is a good chance that your child will be put through school at no expense to you. You yourself could even apply for one because it will allow you to take that step back into further education and enhance your qualifications in order to apply for better and more lucrative jobs.

Never forget that scholarships and school grants will require evidence if very specific things. You will need to prove that you are hard up and earning a low income. In order for your child to qualify as well you will need to prove that they are very intelligent and they may even be subjected to one or two small tests.

Some Web-Based Sweepstake Programs

Sign up for an Educational Sweepstake Giveaway

There are also some private scholarships specifically for moms who would like to go back to school. These are web-based “contest” scholarships that function kind of like a sweep stakes — you apply and get a chance of winning money for school. Let me be clear here: these are NOT grants of any sorts. They are sweepstake contest — you fill out the application and get entered into a monthly scholarship draw for $10,000 to be used for school.

Here are the top ones:

ScholarshipZone’s 10k Scholarship and the 10k Scholarship for Working Adults. These are sweepstakes — you visit the website and fill out a 5 minute form. Once you do, you get entered into a once-a-month scholarship drawing. There is even a similar program for dads called the 10k Scholarship for Dads.

Online Membership Giveaways

There are a whole wack of websites that are eager to get people to sign up for their online (free) memberships. You sign up and basically get free stuff to do so. One program that caters specifically to moms is the FamilyPlanning.com membership. You sign up for their free online membership and get free baby samples, grocery discount coupons, a weekly newsletters with helpful articles just for moms, and more stuff.

Survey-Based Giveaways

Another form of the web-giveaway is to fill out a small survey and get something free for your time or a chance to win something (or maybe a combination of both). There are a lot of these programs around on the web, but here are a couple that may appeal to moms:

• There is another web giveaway contest where you fill out a survey and then get entered into a $50k scholarship draw for school
• Another survey giveaway where you  get a chance to win a $1500 gas card
• Win a $3500 dollar nursery makeover for you baby by filling out a survey
• And here’s one where you fill out survey and get a ton of grocery coupons for online savings
• Win a $3500 dollar nursery makeover for you baby by filling out a survey
• Get a Free $250 Gift Card to your Favorite Baby Store
• Get ready for school with $1,500 shopping spree — short survey
• Do You Have a CuteKid? Submit photo for a chance to win 25k if you’re kid is the cutest!

There are other programs out on the web that you can find if you search online.

In terms of concrete grants you have a few options.

Private Grants for Single Mothers

One of the best sources of financial help for single moms is to look to see what sort of private financial help you can find. Many many grants are actually given out by organizations and businesses. You might be surprised at what sort of grants you can get.

Employer Grants/Scholarships

For example, many corporations may offer some type of educational grant or scholarship to employees. Then there are the whole wack of grants given out by grant foundations. There are usually requirements in place that you will have to meet before you can qualify for private grants. For example, McDonalds offers their own scholarship program.

Organizational Grants

Many of the so called private grants are aimed at students or people who want to start businesses. Keep in mind that you are going to have to prove why you need the grant and in many cases, just needing “money” will not be enough. You will have to show you are going to school and have financial need or you are starting a business and have a concrete business plan, etc.

You can look at something like this site to help find grants.

Government Grants for Single Mothers

There is a lot of talk about so called government grants for single moms that I’ve seen passed around on the web. The truth is that there really is no such grant available for moms in need. Let me be even more frank: getting any sort of grant, in the traditional sense, is very very hard. Despite all these claims you see where the government is tossing out billions of dollars a year in grants, the government is actually not doing so. I’ve stated this in other articles here, but let me say it again: the government only gives out grants to students, business, and non profit organizations. So called “personal government grants” are pretty much non existent. Still, there are grants that you might be able to qualify for.

If you are dead set on qualifying for a “government grant” then here are the types of entities that can apply for grants listed on grants.gov:

Government Organizations

• State Governments
• Local Governments
• City or Township Governments
• Special District Governments
• Native American Tribal Governments (federally recognized)
• Native American Tribal Governments (other than federally recognized)

Education Organizations

• Independent School Districts
• Public and State Controlled Institutions of Higher Education
• Private Institutions of Higher Education

Public Housing Organizations

• Public Housing Authorities
• Indian Housing Authorities

Non-Profit Organizations

• Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
• Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education

So if you can’t fit yourself under one of the categories listed above, don’t bank on getting financial assistant grants from the federal government. Now just because you can’t get grants from grants.gov does not mean the government doesn’t have some funding. Let’s take a look at at your options:

Federal Government Grants for Students

You can find out some more specific single mother grant programs on our financial help section.

There are federal grants given out to students. These are real and actually quite easy to qualify for.

• Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education Grant (TEACH Grant)
• Federal Pell Grant
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
• The Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
• The National Science & Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant
• (National SMART Grant)
• Institutional Grants
• Irag and Afghanistan Service Grant

• New Mexico Student Incentive Grant Award (up to $2500 dollars)
• Kansas Comprehensive Grants (up to $1100 dollars)
• New York State’s Tuition Assistance Program (up to $5,500 dollars)

Institutional Grants

State Assistance for Single Mothers

Another area you might want to look into if you are seeking financial help is state help. These are programs that are offered by your state in combination with the federal government (some). If you need “financial help now” then these programs are a very very good bet and should be where you first put your efforts. Unlike government grants, these programs ARE for financial need.

• Food Stamp Program — A program where stamps are given out each month. Stamps can be traded in for food at specific locations. Apply at your state DHS website
• Families First/Temporary Assistance for Needy Families — Money given out to struggling families. Must meet qualifications to receive funds, however.
  
• CHIP Program — A health insurance program for children. CHIP provides dental, vision, and medical coverage for children.
• Free or Reduced Meals Program — free lunches for kids going to school
  
• WIC Program – coupons given out each month for stuff.
  

For more information about these programs, you should look at the government financial help website.

Private Financial Assistance for Single Mothers

There are a number of ways to get assistance from private sources. The sources might be charities, women’s shelters, and religious organizations. Here is a small list of some of the more major programs out there that offer financial assistance, be it shelter, food, job counseling, or emotional support:

• Catholic Charities USA
• Salvation Army USA
• The Nurturing Network (Pregnancy Assistance)
• Angle Food Ministries (buy foods for discounted price if you are in financial need)

This list is not exhaustive by any means — do a web search to find more.

Final Word on Grants for Single Moms

Grants are a good way to pay for school, but don’t bank on getting ton’s of free money. If you want to seek out government grants, we suggest you put most of your energy into qualifying for state assistance programs as listed in this article. If you wish to go back to school as a single mother, then you have a good chance of qualifying for government grants such as the Pell Grant. And certainly look at other ways of getting financial help such as applying for web-based giveaways (such as the 10k scholarship for school) and seeking help from charities. Another option is to look at getting a part time job. If there are no jobs in your areas, then consider a work at home job as an option.

It must be said that as a single mother, getting an education is perhaps your BEST ticket to improving your life, both socially and financially. This can take years of work, but the effort is well worth it in the end.