Single Mothers Outreach hosted its annual “Adopt-A-Family” kickoff celebration at the nonprofit organization’s offices on Thursday evening.
The event gave attendees opportunities to hear testimonials from real-life single mothers who are actively participating in the programs SMO offers.
John Vance, immediate past chair of SMO’s board of directors, said it is nice to hear the mothers in the program because they are usually in the background.
“I think that as a donor myself and attracting donors, when you hear directly from the moms or from their kids, you really, those stories touch you, and I think that’s why they’re here. And, you know, a lot of times it’s hard; they’re nervous about having these conversations,” Vance said.
Vance emphasized that this event specifically highlights those small conversations between the mothers and attendees because it is not at a big gala or fundraiser; it is just a few rooms where the mothers talk about their experiences.
When discussing parenthood, Vance said that having a two-parent household is enough of a challenge, but being a single parent is much more difficult.
“We talk a lot about, on our board, is that if you strengthen a single parent, then you’re by definition helping their children, which means if you strengthen the child, you’re strengthening the schools that they go to. And then by a byproduct, you strengthen the community,” Vance said.
Vance added that the reason this cause meant so much to him is because he was raised mainly by his mother.
“I definitely didn’t have the same type of struggles that a lot of families have, but I think you appreciate how hard it is, and you also appreciate how important it is to strengthen a single mom, and the more we can do to provide resources so they can really empower them and take control of life and really have their own voice and really lift them up,” Vance said.
One mother, Cynthia Foster, was speaking during the celebration about her life since losing her job last November and how SMO has helped her.
“I can put a face to your giving. I can put a face to your volunteering. I can put a face to that for you, and show you, my daughter was there, right? It’s like, she got to go to her first day of school with the cutest backpack that she was so excited about, and it wasn’t the hand me down, and it wasn’t, you know, it was special,” Foster said about the donors of SMO.
Foster said that this was her first year participating in “Adopt-A-Family” and that she felt so grateful for it because it alleviates the worry the holidays bring.
“It’s so hard to not be able to provide things for your kid and to have to say no, every minute of every day. And to know that no matter what, like, she’s going to get presents on Christmas, and I don’t have to put all of that pressure on me and figure out a way to make that happen when, you know, when I just don’t, I don’t have the means to do it,” Foster said.
Yorleni Sapp, executive director at SMO, loves the event because it brings awareness to the community about the organization.
“We are so blessed to live in a city like Santa Clarita and sometimes we don’t know what our neighbors are going through,” Sapp said.
Sapp said that SMO is there for those people who feel like they are alone when they are not and that they can provide them with that little bit of hope to keep moving forward in their lives.
She added that seeing the community coming out to support the cause is very meaningful and that most of the time, people are afraid to ask for help.
“Because it’s also sad to go through some situations with people who don’t want to come and tell what they’re going through and ask somebody,” Sapp said. “So we could be that voice to help them so that others and this doesn’t mean that that’s the way that they are always living. It might be a season. It might be a season and some of us will help that people during that season to get over.”
More information about Single Mothers Outreach and its programs is available at singlemothersoutreach.org.
