Many single mother families live in poverty, with difficulty putting a roof over their heads and food in their mouths. The reason is that lots of single mothers have only a minimal level of education and face gender discrimination at work. The situation is worst for a woman whose husband suddenly divorces or abandons her, because such devastation is still a social stigma and she’ll get little sympathy, unlike the situation for a unexpectedly widowed mother.
Grants for women
Fortunately, irrespective of circumstances, she may apply for grants for women from both the national and state authorities to help save her loved ones. Besides the typical national Social Security, state unemployment benefits and workers’ comp, among the most significant grants for single moms is the national food stamp program. It had gone out of style, along with the change to a digital card system (and title change to SNAP) had nearly completely put it out of public view. But the food stamp has come back with a vengeance due to the recent recession, among the worst in living memory.
Another helpful grant for low-income unmarried women with families is that the subsidized housing program run by the national government. It’s variously referred to as Section 8, Housing Choice Vouchers Program or Rental Assistance Program, depending on who you speak to. This program is run by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with the intent of assisting Americans in financial need find cheap places to stay. Many state governments also run their own programs, some in contest, but most in support of the official national program. These are the 3 emergency, short-term free grants for single women.
Good to know
They’ve helped save many families from disaster. However, for the long term, the only mother must get a great job. That usually means a costly college education leading to an associate degree or complete degree. Fortunately, finding such educational grants for women is simple. Right out the bat, the national government provides the free Pell Grant for girls, which pays up to $5550 of their faculty tuition fee for her.
Assuming she’s from the lowest strata of society, she may also be eligible for the FSEOG, which leads another $4000. That’s $9550 in total (if she receives the maximum grant amounts), which exceeds the $9000 of the normal tuition fee of a community college. Needless to say, not everyone will be eligible to receive the entire sum of both national grants. Fortunately, many state authorities award their own student scholarships and grants in addition to the Pell Grant. Some of these scholarships are awarded directly by the state’s Department of Education, while others have put up a non-profit company to deal with the management of funds.
Final word
All this speculation makes the assumption that our single mother/woman only did so-so in her SAT. If she scored well, she really has a whole variety of federal, state and private scholarships available for her along with the aforementioned needs-based scholarships. Ultimately, finding and applying for these fundamental grants for women isn’t a tough feat. While not always well known, most social welfare case officers and charity workers in women’s shelters need to be able to provide this same advice.