If you’re a single mother struggling to make ends meet, help is available. Often, assistance is difficult to find, especially when you aren’t sure where to begin your search.
We’ve compiled a list of the most helpful government grants created especially to assist single mothers in need. This temporary assistance can provide just the help you need to improve your quality of life and put you on the right track.
Here’s your list:
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families
Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, or TANF, which replaced previous welfare programs in 1996, is a grant program designed to assist families with extremely low income. Single mothers may apply for this type of assistance at their local Department of Human Services office.
Once the application is turned in, the following will occur:
- The family will be assessed during an initial screening process to determine their income, assets, and immediate needs. Many times, eligibility for Food Stamps, or SNAP, is also assessed at this time, as well as eligibility for medical benefits through TANF.
- TANF will introduce single mothers to the wide variety of local resources available, such as child care, child support, job readiness activities, and Social Security Income, or SSI.
- While single mothers are using this assistance, they will receive cash benefits each month, help for paying for child care, transportation assistance for when they are looking for work, and help paying for items they need in order begin their employment, like uniforms or car repairs.
- Once single mothers begin earning enough income to no longer qualify for TANF, they can continue to receive a $50 grant or more for up to a year as long as their income does not exceed 250% of the poverty level. In order to continue to receive these additional benefits, single mothers must maintain employment and work a certain amount of hours a week.
- Most often, there is a 60-month time limit on TANF assistance. If needed, emergency time extensions can be used to extend this period, though.
Insure Kids Now
Making sure your children are healthy and safe is a big part of being a single mother.
If you can not afford health insurance for your family, and your job does not provide adequate health coverage for your family, you may be able to obtain help from the government through no-cost or low-cost insurance coverage.
Programs like the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or CHIP, or Medicaid can help keep your children healthy, and you may even qualify for this assistance as well.
Benefits through these programs generally include:
- Hearing
- Doctor’s visits
- Hospital care
- Vaccinations
- Dental care
- Vision
- Prescription drugs
- Emergency Care
To apply for this assistance and obtain further information, you can call 1-877-543-7669 or visit www.insurekidsnow.gov.
Women, Infants, and Children Program
The Women, Infants, and Children program, or WIC, is a government program designed specifically for single mothers and their children.
With this program, low income mothers are provided with coupons each month that can be traded in at most grocery stores for basic necessities like:
- Eggs
- Milk
- Formula
- Dry Beans
- Cereal
- Cheese
- Juice
Applying for this type of assistance is relatively easy and many single mothers are eligible. If you are interested in this help, visit www.fns.usda.gov to find links your particular state’s website and access to a toll free number.
Sunshine Lady Foundation
While the Sunshine Lady Foundation was not founded by the government, it is a solid support for single mothers in need.
Founded by Doris Buffet in 1996, this foundation is a private family foundation that is dedicated to helping low income families and the poor succeed.
It provides grants to these disadvantaged individuals to assist with:
- Investments in business
- Graduate study
- Scientific or academic research
- Payment of student loans
- Payment of medical debt
- The arts
- General fundraising
- Conferences, trips, and seminars
- Religious purposes
- Animal or environmental protection
If you are interested in applying for this type of grant, visit www.sunshinelady.org.
Our Families, Our Future
Our Families, Our Future is a program that assists in strengthening families and keeping children safe. Single mothers can take advantage of this assistance to help with the following:
- Child abuse prevention – Provides families with education and assistance in order to prevent child abuse.
- Diversion services – this part of the program helps prevent unnecessary removal of children from their homes in an effort to preserve families.
- Independent living – This section of the program provides guidance for children who are in foster care and those who are coming of age and are leaving foster care and welfare assistance.
- Supervision – Provides assistance for providing stable and safe environments for children.
- Foster Parents – Provides assistance to individuals interested in foster care through specialized training.
Women’s Opportunity Awards
The Women’s Opportunity Awards program was established in 1972 and has since disbursed about $25 million dollars to single mothers and women who are the head of their households.
These grants are given to women who need assistance overcoming obstacles such as poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, education, and even domestic violence.
Women who are the head of their household and the primary support for their families financially may be eligible for this type of assistance as long as they display a financial need and are enrolled in an undergraduate program or skills training program.
Click here to apply for the Women Opportunity Awards Program
If you are a single mother in need of assistance, consider these options from the government. A little assistance can help you get back on your feet so you can provide your children with the life you know they deserve.
Share the love
| Get blog updates |
