For most parents, making a living for their family nowadays has become a concerted effort, requiring both spouses to work full time jobs to make ends meet. The days of the single-income family are rapidly becoming rarer and rarer, making it more difficult for “stay-at-home” moms and dads to exist. Enter into the picture the single parent, and the financial burden on parents sharply increases.
According to data from the Child Protective Services, 34 percent of children are being raised by only one parent, a 25 percent spike from data collected in 1980. Additionally, the U.S. Census Bureau reported in 2013 that the average income earned by single-parent families was only $26,000 a year, markedly lower than the $84,000 earned annually by conventional, two-parent households.
For single mothers, who account for 83 percent of single parents overall, the transition from being in a marriage or relationship with children, to raising children single-handedly can be quite traumatic. In many cases, these women are escaping abusive or unhealthy relationships and are having to start from scratch with their new lifestyle change. As mentioned, single parents make a great deal less than married couples with children do, and many also don’t have the time or resources to adequately or effectively make the shift into parenting their children on their own.
Alarming poverty
As a result of these and many other obstacles, the level of poverty seen amongst single parents is alarming, as 36.5 percent of single-mother families lived under the poverty level, with over half of those families living in extreme poverty. Numbers aside, it is clear that these families have the deck stacked against them.
Michelle Rasmussen saw this need and has been running an organization called Village of Life in Price for more than two years.
In 2010, along with two other single mothers, Rasmussen began working on creating a program that would aid single parents in the process of putting their lives back together and help them become successful as parents and members of the workforce. After five years of getting the appropriate licenses and piecing everything together, Village of Life got off the ground in January of 2015.
“I’m a single mom myself, and so I wanted to help others that have it worse off than me. I recognize how blessed I am, to have a good job, a high-paying job. And I can’t even imagine, as much as I was struggling, how people that make less money than me could handle it.
“Being a single mom, I can empathize with the clients that we work with. Many of them are breaking out of abusive relationships and I can definitely empathize with that…Many of them just don’t know where to start,” Rasmussen said.
Village of Life’s mission statement, as stated on Villageoflife.net is, “to be a leader in empowering low income, single parents and their children to reach their full potential by providing safe affordable housing.” Rasmussen advises anyone interested in learning more to visit that website and wants to clear up one misconception that might possibly steer people away from her organization.
Not a handout
“One thing to know about Village of Life is that we are not a handout, we are a hand up. I think the biggest thing is, [for] parents ‘in the system,’ they think, ‘Oh, it is just another handout,’ it’s not. They have to go through a set of requirements to even get the help,” Rasmussen said.
Some of the services provided are working with financial mentors to help single parents get back on their feet. Rasmussen also encourages people to get help via workshops as well. These workshops, in accordance with People Helping People of Salt Lake City, allow parents to learn the nuanced ways of “how to play the game of work,” as she puts it. These sessions, conducted via video-conferences, give tips from the perspective of the employers so that they can learn the best way to move up the ladder at work and increase their income.
To reiterate the concept of her organization’s program being completely voluntary, Rasmussen also notes that her clients won’t be going through the process without people in the same spot as they are.
“[Parents in the program] have to be willing to work with a mentor, have to be willing to help and accept from another single parent. We’re trying to build a village-like atmosphere where we are all helping each other,” Rasmussen said.
Village of Life runs a variety of fundraisers and events that help to reach out to struggling single parents, and also helps raise awareness of the services that are offered. Currently, Rasmussen and her organization are getting ready to hold two events to kick off the summer. From June 23 to the 25, Nine Mile Ranch will be the setting for the first annual “Empowered Camping Weekend.” During this event, parents and their children will get a great opportunity to meet fellow single parents and enjoy activities such as hiking, skill-building and exploration of the rock art left behind by the native Utes. For pricing and more information, visit Villageoflife.net/Empowered.
Later, on August 26, Carbon High School will be hosting Village of Life’s Family Olympics. More information on this event can also be found on their website, at Villageoflife.net/Olympics.
Those who are interested can also look for events on Facebook, under ‘Village of Life Single Parents’ or ‘Village of Life Single Mothers.’ The first group is the general page where members can get in touch with one another. ‘Village of Life Single Mothers’ is more geared towards mothers who are looking for a safe, private forum where they can get away from their abusers.
Those who want to take advantage of the service, may visit Villageoflife.net. It takes a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village of parents to raise a community.