CITRUS HEIGHTS, CA (MPG) - Single Mom Strong, a nonprofit created to meet the unique needs of local single mothers and their families through support, education and events is expanding its mission by addressing the lack of affordable, quality childcare in the region. Its new Empowerment Center, where a Grand Opening is set for Saturday, June 15, 2019, will immediately offer value- and activity-based summer camps, addressing a great need for working families.

When the school year kicks off, the Center will offer preschool and childcare programs, including extended hours and drop-in care, in a co-operative style childcare where parents can volunteer in exchange for reduced rates.

In addition, the Center will offer a variety of personal and professional growth programs for single mothers, with a wide range of topics such as goal setting, budgeting and self-defense, as well as one-on-one coaching and mentoring.

“The cost of childcare is a significant strain on the family budget, particularly for single parents. The problem multiplies when school is not in session and full-day programs are needed such as during summer and winter breaks. We need to find better solutions to the childcare dilemma for families. Single Mom Strong’s new summer program is a great option. Then, when the EmpowerME preschool and co-op childcare programs open in the fall, families will have an affordable long-term care option with the opportunity to volunteer in the Center in exchange for reduced-cost care for their children,” said Founder Tara Taylor.

Taylor created Single Mom Strong as a response to her own challenges as a single mother. “I know from my own experience that it really does take a village to raise a child. I raised my daughter alone from the age of 6 months old without support from her father. It was the hardest, but most rewarding thing I have ever done. I wanted to make that path a bit easier for other single mothers, so I decided to create the “village” that every mom needs when raising a child and Single Mom Strong was born.”

Despite mothers’ best efforts, statistics show that children raised by single mothers suffer in a variety of ways: they are more likely to have educational deficiencies, engage in sex at a younger age, have lower occupational status and income as adults, and give birth outside of marriage themselves, among other issues. In fact, eighty-five percent of all children with behavioral problems come from fatherless homes.

Meanwhile, single mothers are plagued with feelings of guilt and inadequacy and usually find themselves living at or below poverty level. Single Mom Strong is working with local single mothers to change these statistics.

Since its inception in Sacramento less than three years ago, Single Mom Strong has served over 400 mothers and children in the greater Sacramento area.

The interest list for Single Mom Strong’s EmpowerME summer program is open but space is limited. Interested parties are encouraged to learn more at SingleMomStrong.org and attend the Grand Opening hosted by Taylor and the Center’s new Childcare Director Le Taunya Terrell. The event will feature a ribbon cutting, facility tours, carnival games, silent auction, special guests and treats.

About Single Mom Strong
Based on the premise that a single mother can simultaneously be a professional success and a great parent, and the belief that neither the single mother nor her children are limited in any way by this circumstance, Single Mom Strong is:

A community, meeting the need for belonging and love for single mothers and their children; A place of empowerment: for single mothers, through education and opportunity for balance; for their children through education and positive relationships; A means for betterment: with their children in safe, quality child care, single mothers can better provide for their families and achieve personal goals

About The Empowerment Center
Located at 7525 Auburn Blvd. in Citrus Heights, The Empowerment Center is the only resource of its kind in the area and the flagship program of Single Mom Strong.