FORWARD FOUNDATION
Empowering Action to Move Forward
Navigating life’s challenges as a community with
Strength,
Perseverance,
Persistence, and
Purposefulness
Our Mission
We are a 501(c)3 dedicated to assisting working, single parents, and their children, in the Greater Richmond area who have encountered a life altering event resulting in financial hardship. Our parents need to work to support their families. For many single parent families, the income they make isn’t enough to cover their basic expenses. This is where we step in to assist.
Forward Foundation VA is unique in that it serves a very niched demographic of single parents who typically cannot receive help from the state due to earning too high of an income. Through our 12-18 month program, we empower single parent families to move forward beyond their current hardship.
We bridge the gap for the many families who fall in between and create opportunities for single parent families to be financially independent and achieve long term financial stability. The critical needs Forward Foundation VA addresses is to provide working, single parent families, with substantial financial, professional, emotional, and community support.
How We Help
Support
Qualified working, single parents are eligible to receive subsidized childcare assistance and educational services. This aid allows them the opportunity to earn an income; hence providing stability and independence for their family.
Empower
A community of care.
Our goal is to provide the necessary tools needed to take our families from instability to stability. As they complete the 12-18 month program, they will then in turn serve as mentors to new parents coming in.
Our Goal
Foster resilience & financial stability.
Build community & gain valuable skills.
Bring awareness & advocacy for this
immense need.
Our Why
13.6 Million
Single Parent Families In America
23 Million
Children Raised By Single Parents
$1500 / month
Average Full Time Childcare Cost For An Infant
35%
Childcare Costs For The Average Single Parent Household Income
DID YOU KNOW?
Single Parent Stats in the US
- There are nearly 13.6 million single parents living in the US
- In the United States today, more than 23 million children live in a single-parent family.
- Children are now twice as likely to live with a single parent versus just a few decades ago. Per the U.S Census Bureau, almost a quarter of U.S. children under the age of 18 live with one parent and no other adults.
This total has risen over the last half century and currently covers about one in every three kids across America.
Single Parent Stats in Richmond, Virginia
- In Richmond alone, 52% of homes are single parent led with an average household income of $40,000
Release table for 2022
Childcare Costs in Virginia
- Virginia is one of the most expensive states in the country when it comes to child care
- Full time infant care costs an average of $16,397 per year and center-based care for a 4-year-old typically costs $13,560.
- We assist single parents (moms & dads) who are working full time, finishing degrees, or a combination of both.
- These are typically individuals that do not qualify for assistance through the state due to earning “too high” of an income.
- Forward Foundation VA bridges the gap and creates opportunities for single parent families to be financially independent and achieve long term financial stability.
- We help single parent families move forward.
We are not offering a handout, but a hand up.
This synthesis of duty and responsibility is a performance-based objective.
We are extending a “hand-up” for those who don't qualify for services provided by others.
Our Services & Programming
We provide Educational Workshops for parents and their children that center around financial education, career advancement, self-care, mental health, parenting coaching, group activities, community events, mentorship and life skills.
In order to achieve long term sustainability and financial independence, it is imperative we equip families with knowledge in the areas they need to best care for themselves and their children.
If needed, we offer a monthly childcare subsidy. The subsidy is paid directly to the childcare provider to help offset their childcare expenses while in our program.
Our History
In 2010, Kimberly Baine-Tillem founded The Sophie House to assist single working mothers and their children during a time of crisis. The foundation was rebranded and launched as Forward Foundation VA in January of 2020 with the goal of providing support to an underserved and often overlooked demographic of working, single parents ineligible for state assistance.
You Can Make a Difference
Your donations will directly support and enrich the lives of working, single parent families in the Greater Richmond area and surrounding counties. Your donation helps to provide our single parents with financial assistance for childcare, educational workshops catered to their unique needs, career advancement opportunities, a safe support system, and so much more!
We equip our families with vital resources and knowledge to best care for their children, enabling them to move forward toward financial stability.
