The number of single mother supported families around the world continues to increase. There is no second say in the fact that single parenthood is a battle of responsibility and great courage.
However, the plight of single mothers is further complicated when they fall prey to diseases like AIDS and that too in crippling poverty.
Single parenthood can results from separation, death, pregnancy outside marriage etc. Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome commonly called as AIDS is a disease that can make the life of a single mother worse beyond imagination.
Keeping this in mind Pastor Anthony Moore, who heads a Carolina Missionary Baptist Church in Fort Washington, is putting all the effort to raise funds for a special campaign.
This campaign is meant to provide a secure place to single mothers with HIV/AIDS to live and seek needful help to reach self-sufficiency.
The aim of this campaign is to raise around $65 million to build a 40-unit apartment complex, My Sister’s Keeper, for single mothers & their school-going children. The campaign will strive to provide the children of single mothers with the needful educational opportunities.
In addition to that, services like healthcare, job, peer support, counseling, and training on life skills will also be provided. Every unit of the apartment will meet the housing and support needs of single mother and her children for as long as 24 months.
Anthony Moore further states that 87.4 per cent of HIV/AIDS patients are black of which females account for the largest proportion. Moore, who has been a pastor at Carolina Missionary Baptist Church for about 25 years, shares that he did not have to go far away to see the requirement of such facility for single mothers.
He felt compelled to respond to the great need that required effort on his part when he saw the plight of such women in close vicinity. He states that by this effort, multiple generations of single mothers and their children will be helped.
Moore not only wants to stress on housing but he wants to follow a comprehensive and holistic approach for single mothers in need. Trained volunteers will be employed to provide homework assistance & tutoring to kids of single moms. Weekly support groups will be organized which will help build the self-confidence in the kids. These sessions will encourage them to use their unique abilities to chase their dreams and to seek success in life.
On the plight of single mothers afflicted with HIV, Moore states “the church cannot afford to be silent”. He found that the housing subsidies for the HIV/AIDS sufferers are very limited. Dedra Spears-Johnson, co-founder and executive director of Heart to Hand Inc., states that there is serious need to provide housing for single parents who suffer from HIV/AIDS. She was happy with the fact that proper medication and healthcare facilities have added to the longevity of a large number of HIV/AIDS patients.
Moore emphasizes on the importance of patients getting tested and knowing the status of illness. He intends to design a support structure in which individuals who are tested positive will not be left alone with the feeling. They will seek right guidance on what to do next. Effort is being made to seek grants from local, state, and federal government. Moore, who hopes to break ground for the facility in a year, exudes his faith on God and His Grace to help them with the initiative.