Winning at School

If the lives of single mothers are often filled with dead-end jobs, cheap apartments and living paycheck to paycheck, imagine the challenges faced by their children. Nomadic lifestyles, lives on the brink of poverty and even homelessness can be devastating – especially when it comes to school.

You can help make a difference for both moms and children.

Unstable home lives, frequent school changes and sporadic attendance can all cause children to fall behind in the classroom, which can be an intimidating place for a child at risk of being left behind in learning. And once left behind, a child may never catch up.

Fortunately, many of them find Gracewood, part of Children At Heart Ministries. The children who accompany their single mothers to our residential ministry in Houston have often faced difficult challenges in school and in life. Gracewood changes everything, but it takes your help.  

At Gracewood, children find motivation in many forms. It’s a place where they can watch their mothers strive for success in life, often through a better education. It’s not unusual to see moms and children doing homework together at a table in a Gracewood cottage.

The results are remarkable, for both moms and children.

Samantha was just 10 years old when she came to Gracewood with her mother and two sisters. Her mom was recently divorced and the family had been living in a shelter. The lessons they learned at Gracewood have stayed with them for life. Samantha graduated from high school with honors this year and was awarded a $20,000 Horatio Alger Scholarship to Texas A&M University. Her mom will graduate from Prairie View A&M with a degree in Sociology. (Read more about Gracewood moms and children.)

Your gift will give moms and children a chance to change their lives forever, thanks to your help and Gracewood’s emphasis on education. Because of your gifts, we are able to send children – and mothers – to school equipped to succeed.

As the next school year approaches, we need your help more than ever. Four Gracewood moms are enrolled in college working toward their degrees. We have two dozen children of all ages attending pre-school, elementary school, middle school or high school.

We want to make sure that they all stay at the front of their classes, not trailing behind. With your help, we are changing study habits, improving learning skills, and turning children and single mothers once earmarked for failure into remarkable success stories.

Your support of the Children At Heart Ministries 2012 Back to School campaign will help children and single mothers throughout our ministries at Texas Baptist Children’s Home, Miracle Farm, STARRY and Gracewood by defraying the costs not only of school supplies and school clothes, but the tutors and special learning opportunities that help turn lives around.

You can make a difference in the lives of children like Samantha, her sisters and her mother. Just knowing that you are praying for them and giving them financial support will motivate them to succeed – not just in the classroom, but in life.

Please visit the 2012 Back to School Donation Page and make your fully tax-deductible gift today!