Brandee, a 2017 WomenGive graduate, shared the following story during the recent WomenGive Spring Social about her experience as a single mother:
My son, Ty is eight years old. I knew when I became pregnant that I was going to be a single parent. His father lived in New York, and he didn’t want to be part of his life. I wanted to prove to everyone that I could raise this child on my own without any help.
For the first two years of my son’s life, I worked in a childcare center and went to school in the evening so that I could get my Director’s Certificate for Early Childhood. Ty now not only had one parent absent from his life, he now had two.
After a friend introduced me to Project Self-Sufficiency, I began to let my stubborn shield down and accept the help I needed. It didn’t seem possible to quit my full time job and to go back to school, but as soon as Project Self-Sufficiency provided me with resources such as WomenGive, I knew it was possible.
In 2013, I quit my full-time job and went back to school full time. It was one of the scariest decisions that I have ever made, but it was worth it. Because in 2017, I received my Bachelors in Business Administration from Colorado State University. This was also the same year that Ty graduated from Kindergarten.
My success would not have been possible without the support of WomenGive. Although the child care scholarships were a huge part of it, that is not the only way they helped me. There were many times that I wanted to give up, and it never failed that I would check my mail and a little card with words of encouragement from WomenGive would be there. Knowing that strangers that I had never met believed in me helped me believe in myself.
I also have WomenGive to thank for my current job. In 2016, I was one of the WomenGive scholarship recipients featured at the WomenGive Annual Luncheon. This lead to a donor reaching out to me and offering me an internship at the Drake Centre. Because of this experience, I was offered a job at Colorado State University’s Facility Management department as their events scheduler, where I’ve been working for more than a year.
Although this journey has been hard, it has been so rewarding. The best part is that I have my son looking up to me. WomenGive is not just supporting single moms. It is supporting our future. Knowing that my son is watching me go to school, get a job and support him is teaching him to to work hard for what he wants in life and to never give up.
Because of that, I want to say thank you to everyone who helps make WomenGive possible. To the donors, employees and volunteers… THANK YOU!
