Community Connections Services
Along the Way’s Community Connection Services provide holistic support to help single mothers succeed. This program allows us to assist clients through a variety of challenges and obstacles. Our primary goal is provide the necessary support to make it possible for low-income mothers to get out of poverty & gain economic self-sufficiency.
The Community Connections Services described here are offered by many agencies; what sets Along The Way apart is that we have designed our services to be administered around the unique schedules of our clients to reduce barriers to access. While some community resources have standard daytime hours, for a mother working overnights, it may be difficult to schedule daytime appointments because it means not sleeping and being even more drained than she already is as a single mother doing everything alone. Our goal is to make it as easy as possible for hard-working mothers to get the support they need for their families to thrive, so we work around her schedule.
We are able to provide these essential supports by developing partnerships with local businesses and community stakeholders; if you are interested in becoming a business partner, click here.
“While our flagship child care program provides the vital support needed during child care gaps for a mother to be able to invest in herself, we know that attaining financial stability is difficult and multi-layered. ”
Types of Case Management Services
Our dedicated team of case managers connect our mothers in need with the community resources that are available to support their journey to economic mobility.
Crises Stabilization
Case Management
GOAL: PROVIDE A SOLID FOUNDATION OF BASIC NEEDS NECESSARY TO BEGIN WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT TO BE ABLE TO RE-ENTER THE WORKFORCE.
Human-beings have a hierarchy of needs, with the most elemental needs being food security, family safety, and safe + stable housing. When these needs are not met, it becomes almost impossible to improve one’s situation through workforce development, education and training programs or successful employment. Clients are assigned a case manager that helps them gain access to resources, will help them apply to programs, and who is an emotional support and advocate.
Insurance-funded case management often limits support to the insured parent in the family, which can limit the resources provided to children of single parents.
Workforce
Case Management
GOAL: ELIMINATE RESOURCE GAPS THAT PREVENT SINGLE PARENTS FROM ACHIEVING THEIR FULL ECONOMIC POTENTIAL.
This program provides career development to single mothers to support marketable skill development and employment-readiness in a career-tracks that have room for growth. This can include (but is not limited to) in-house job skills assessments, career exploration, resume preparation, mock interviews, hard + soft skills coaching, access to professional attire, and emotional support.
We also connect women to ESL classes, GED classes, Drivers Education, Mental Health supports, and Workforce Training + Certification Programs.
Community
Case Management
GOAL: ENSURE THAT AS OBSTACLES TO EMPLOYMENT ARISE, EMPLOYMENT IS MAINTAINED.
This program is aimed at supporting working single parents who have stable employment, but who would not be able to overcome certain obstacles on their own without employment being in jeopardy.
For example, a single mother of 3 children working as an RN may have stable employment in a career track; however, with one income, an unexpected car repair that she can’t afford, could leave her with no transportation to work. We ensure this doesn’t happen so she can continue to be a reliable employee and provide for her children.
By having 3 levels of case management, we are able to meet mothers where they are, matching them with the right level of case management intensity to support their goal achievement.
Families are connected to our Community Connections services by completing our application and going through our eligibility determination process. To get help, click here.
Need Other Resources?
Visit our Community Toolkit page for information on community resources that you can connect to for help beyond our services!