Financial aid for single mothers is available either through federal welfare services or through private organizations.
Who is qualified?
Not all single mothers can take advantage of special financial help packages. Only those whose earnings fall below a certain level are considered low-income individuals and qualify for welfare benefits. To find out if you qualify for and may avail yourself of federal welfare services, you must complete the application form available at your local welfare office.
Each program has its own income limits. Whether or not your income falls within the limit depends on the type of income you have, your family's expenses, and any other special circumstances your family may have. Each program also has resource limits. Things that can be converted to cash (bank accounts, stocks, and other properties) are considered to be resources. Only certain non-U.S. citizens may receive welfare benefits. Check with your local office for details.
What happens if you are not qualified?
If you do not qualify for welfare benefits, or if your needs are not covered by any specific welfare program, you may take advantage of grants offered by the U.S. government to single mothers. In exchange for the grant, you must perform some service or task required by the grant terms. There are 900 grant programs offered by 26 federal grant-making agencies. Some grant categories are agriculture, art, and education. You may visit http://www.grants.gov and http://www.neh.gov for details on grant application.
Other sources
Many schools offer scholarships specifically to single mothers. In order to find out about these, you may visit the financial aid office of the school you are currently attending or wish to attend.
There are also some private organizations that give grants and financial assistance to single mothers. Singlemom.com has a "financial gifting program." It awards cash grants to deserving single mothers every month. Many other similar organizations have grant and financial aid information on the Internet.
