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Single moms seek way out of poverty

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) — Carletha Currie is determined to escape what she calls “the poverty mentality.”

She had her first child at 17 and applied for a Link card, subsidized housing, Medicaid and any other benefit for which she qualified.

“I’ve always utilized all the resources I thought would give me those stair steps to get off public assistance,” said Currie, 28. “I’ve had the experience of a minimum-wage job, then getting employed at Caterpillar (Inc.) and the struggles I dealt with going to work every day at Caterpillar and trying to make ends meet without any public assistance and without any health insurance.”

Currie decided her mission should be to band moms together to help each other and their children, and one major step, she said, is to teach their children “it’s cool to be smart.” Young, single moms are so busy just trying to get everything done that they need each other for encouragement and help.

She created an organization called Mothers on the Move for Success, or MOMS. Among her circle are an accountant, a teacher, a banker, a photographer, a hairstylist, a leasing agent for the Decatur Housing Authority and a minister, each with a skill to help the group succeed.

Members of the group met recently to narrow their focus into a single mission statement: “To empower mothers to reach their maximum potential in life despite their circumstances.”

Currie said the group is not just for low- to moderate-income mothers, but for any mother who wants to work with other moms for personal development, economic growth and relationships with community organizations. Creating a strong, supportive family is the foundation of it all, she said.

The Boys & Girls Club is restructuring its parental involvement program and partnering with MOMS.

“If you can reach the mother, you can reach the child,” Currie said. She keeps very busy, training for Volunteers in Service to America, or VISTA, working with the Decatur Community Partnership and the Juvenile Justice Council. She doesn’t want her son and daughter, ages 12 and 9, to grow up with a poverty mentality, but to see that hard work and ambition is the way to go places.

“I really feel that MOMS can be a great support group for people of our age,” said Raushana Pender, an accountant who has been with the group for about three months. “We all kind of have something in common and can support each other, and I guess just feel comfortable about helping each other. And something that one of us can’t do, another one can. It just benefits us.”

Those who haven’t lived in poverty, Currie said, don’t understand how to reach people who have lived that way, sometimes for generations. VISTA will allow her to address issues of poverty for a year. She’ll receive a stipend during her year of volunteer work, and she’ll gain experience.

“To me, this is a ministry,” she said. “I want to prove to myself and the families we serve that this is for the cause and it’s not about money.”

Currie believes churches could do much more to assist the poor if they were allowed to. Too often, she said, churches have great ideas and willing volunteers, but they can’t get funding for programs because they’re churches.

“The church is missing,” she said. “My generation is missing. There’s a gap. Youth programs cut off at 18, and I’m 28. I’m just out here. So MOMS is set up to address that. So where do we start? With our kids. If you can reach the mother, you can reach the child. How do you reach us? Personal development.”

Carletha Currie, a participant with Mothers on the Move for Success, or MOMS, and French Academy Principal Donna Jefferson encourage students who are performing an obstacle race as part of a fun reward program set up at the school in Decatur, Ill. Kelly J. Huff/The Herald & Review