In Fall 2020, Smart Beginning Virginia Peninsula (SBVP) was contacted by United Way of the Virginia Peninsula to implement the Care and Supervision of School-Aged Children (CASSAC) program. The program provided tuition assistance for qualified families. Mary was one of the parents in the SBVP Parent Leadership Group was a direct recipient of this program. Mary stated, "In my household, I have 3 children, 2 adults (one of whom has severe mental health issues) and a college student. I thought I was done raising children. In the back of my mind, I knew that one day my son would not be able to care for my granddaughter, but I never imagined that it would only be 5 short years before that thought became a reality. One evening, while at work, I received an emergency call stating that I had been given custody of my granddaughter and that my son was being sent to a mental health hospital. Instantly I went from being the 'fun, see you on occasion grandmother' to a young child's full-time mom. My job was immediately jeopardized as all these things were happening very quickly and during a worldwide pandemic. I immediately went from living on a fixed income that kept me comfortable to facing poverty and hunger, as I now had to provide shelter, food, and child care for my granddaughter. If the SBVP Parent and Community Engagement Specialist had not shared the tuition assistance program with me, I would have lost my job, apartment, and ability to care for all of us, because of this circumstance and these unanticipated costs. I am so thankful."
To learn more about Smart Beginnings Virginia Peninsula here.