Adopt A Single Mom Project aims to inspire and empower working single moms

WILKES-BARRE — Donna Nelson founded the Adopt A Single Mom Project in 2017 to share the necessary tools, knowledge — and her own first-hand experiences — to inspire and empower working single moms.

“This will be our seventh Christmas for our program,” Nelson said. “I wanted to find a way to give back to the community, so I related to my own experience.”

She knows that many single-mom families can be overlooked by the community because people may assume they are high-functioning and often self-sufficient.

Nelson also knows that it’s the single mom who shows up to work with a smile on her face hoping the school doesn’t call to come pick up a sick kid because she can’t afford to lose time off work. Single moms often suffer in silence from loneliness and depression because they don’t have the connections and social outlets that other moms have with more family and financial resources, she said.

And Nelson also knows that single moms rarely have gifts for themselves to open on Christmas morning.

That’s where the project comes in.

It was Nelson’s desire to gift a few working single moms at Christmas so they had presents especially for themselves under the tree.

The Adopt A Single Mom Project, a fund of The Luzerne Foundation, was founded in November 2017 by Nelson, a working single mom sole-parenting two boys — one born medically fragile, having passed away at age three.

The need is great: There are more than 7,700 single moms in Luzerne County and more than 17,400 in Northeastern Pennsylvania, with a median annual income of only $27,513.

Nelson said the program has provided gifts for more than 800 working single moms in seven counties — Luzerne, Lackawanna, Wyoming, Wayne, Susquehanna, Pike, and Monroe.

The goal this year is to provide gifts for 200 single moms. The group shops at Boscov’s and purchases include items of self-care, comfort and inspiration, such as a journal and pen, a hat, scarf and gloves, a cozy blanket, and fuzzy socks.

“These are items that single moms would not normally buy for themselves,” Nelson said. “They concentrate on buying gifts for their children. And kids often are elated to see their moms get a present from Santa as well.”

More than presents

But the Christmas project is just one part of the Adopt A Single Mom Program. Nelson also has created programs and a social support system to provide resources to meet real life challenges unique to single moms who work.

As a single mom doing it alone, Nelson said she experienced first-hand some of the difficulties faced by many single moms with no social and financial safety net. Some of the most common issues facing working single moms are lack of affordable and accessible childcare, safe affordable housing, sustainable living wages, workplace flexibility, food insecurity, meaningful social support, and accessible public transportation.

Nelson said the Adopt A Single Mom Project serves NEPA working single moms from pregnancy to those with children up to age 21 by addressing these gaps with providing an annual community resource event partnering with more than 30 local community-based agencies and businesses for families to access after-hours.

Nelson said she wants to make single moms aware of the program to help address both the social and economic issues they face.

In 2023, Nelson received the Rose Brader Community Service Award from the United Way of Wyoming Valley.

“Donna’s passion is to help those around her feel empowered, regardless of the challenges they may be facing,” said Patrick Endler, who chaired the selection committee. “Donna’s role in the Adopt A Single Mom Project and her involvement in countless other ways in our community make her an ideal recipient of this year’s award.”

All-volunteer effort

Nelson said the program committee is made up entirely of volunteers — no salaries paid.

“Every dollar donated goes back out to supporting programs and services, and stays right here for working single moms in Northeastern Pennsylvania,” Nelson said.

“Our mission is to create a movement providing direct support to empower working single moms of NEPA and beyond filling the gaps with a network of sustainable resources and support to enhance their quality of life so they can be the best version of themselves to thrive as moms and women of our community,” Nelson said.

The Adopt A Single Mom Project website states:

“We are fulfilling our mission through community engagement, comprehensive mentorship programming to fill the gaps on real-life challenges of personal well-being, finances, relationships, and career enhancement, and social and emotional enrichment experiences for both mom and children throughout the year. The AASM Project provides a path of encouragement, inspiration, and engagement with hope and healing.”

The program has been Nelson’s vision to make a social investment that aligned with her coaching and consulting business to uplift the women who have lived and struggled in many of the same ways as she had as a working single mom.

“It is my passion to help others feel empowered regardless of the life situations they face,” Nelson said. “We all feel more powerful and confident when we are appreciated and valued — and that’s what this project aims to achieve.”

How you can help

Donations can be mailed to:

Donna Nelson c/o AASM

P.O. Box 338

Mountain Top, PA 18707

Make checks payable to: “Adopt A Single Mom Project”

Visit https://adoptasinglemom.org/ for more information.