Group 2 4 min Read

Walking in One Parent’s Shoes

Imagine this: You’re a single parent of an eight-year-old and a six-year-old. Your children are full of energy and curiosity, and for that, you are grateful, but it feels like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.  

As a child, you experienced homelessness, and you know firsthand how the day-to-day uncertainty of poverty can seep into every corner of a kid’s life. How sleeping in a car with your parents can shape you, and how the stigma can linger on. That’s why you’ve fought so hard to build something better for your children. They deserve stability and to wake up without worry.

You’ve always done your best despite the challenges you’ve faced. You found an affordable apartment in Bellevue. It’s tiny but in a nice neighborhood, right next to a park. You have a good job working as a receptionist at a local clinic, and you’ve been tucking away savings for a car. A car would be a game changer, making commutes easier and opening up better job opportunities.

Then life threw you a curveball, and you were suddenly at risk of losing the stability you worked so hard to build up. The clinic where you work announced budget cuts, and with just a day’s notice, you went from full-time hours to barely part-time. A friend lets you pick up some extra hours cleaning offices in the evening with her company, but you have to pay for childcare, which swallows up most of what you earn.

Now, the uncertainty of each day feels overwhelming. That money you have saved up for the game-changer car becomes the only thing standing between you and falling behind. Rent is due. Groceries are running low. You do the math again and again, trying to stretch every dollar further. You wonder if your landlord will be lenient, but you heard a neighbor got evicted after missing just one month’s rent. You wonder how long it will take you to find a new full-time job.

In the pit of your stomach, you fear that your kids will have to experience the same pressures of poverty that you did at their age. One night, after putting your kids to bed, you sit staring at the numbers on your bank statement. You think about your father—the only family you had in Bellevue—who passed away last year. He would have known what to say. He would have reminded you how strong you are. But now, it’s just you.

Despite all of the stress, you don’t give up. A friend tells you about Bellevue LifeSpring and how you can go in person to your kid’s school to talk to them about getting some help. You visit the Bellevue Family Hub, and a staff member helps you fill out the application for emergency rent assistance. You qualify. The relief is instant—like someone just lifted a weight off your chest.

This support prevents you from falling further behind financially. The Bellevue LifeSpring staff member also asks if you need assistance with groceries this month. You feel safe to share that you do. Your youngest child has many food intolerances, and the food vouchers from Bellevue LifeSpring give you the opportunity to shop for the food she needs. Now, you won’t have to choose between keeping the lights on or keeping the fridge stocked. And with that weight lifted, something else returns—hope.

For the first time in what seems like forever, you can take a sigh of relief. Not being in survival mode gives you the time you need to find a new job. Soon, you will be on your way to saving for that car again.

You hold your kids close and persevere onward. 

Neighbors Helping Neighbors

There are currently more than 4,726 students in the Bellevue community experiencing food insecurity and more than 708 experiencing homelessness. Students and children from low-income households feel the impacts of a family’s economic hardships the hardest—shaping their futures in ways we can’t always see. Even a small change in a family’s wage earnings can put a child at immediate risk of experiencing hunger and homelessness.

Our community’s support helps break this cycle of poverty and provides stability when families need it most. When we give where we live, we create a community where every child has the resources they need to reach stability and thrive.

Join our mission and give where you live today.

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