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Center Aids Struggling Single Moms

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By YVETTE C. HAMMETT

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 3, 2008

BRANDON - In the throes of her second divorce, Cheryl English hit a wall.

"I drank for 25 years. I was a practicing alcoholic," said English, the mother of two boys. "I was in a master's degree program and had to drop out midterm.

"When all that happened, I felt like God gave me a choice. I could continue on the destructive path, or I could turn toward God and recommit to Christ."

She chose spiritual healing.

That choice has steered her toward a new purpose, helping others who find themselves in similar life-altering situations.

English heads a nonprofit organization that last year helped some 2,000 people in crisis, mostly single mothers once headed toward self-destruction.

She is also working to raise money to build a cluster of homes that struggling single moms and their children could stay in temporarily as they work to regain stability.

The Women's Resource Center of Tampa, on the campus of BayLife Church on Kingsway Road, serves as a bridge to security for women emerging from addiction, domestic violence, financial crises and other trauma.

Issues that threaten to undermine their progress can be immense - especially if they need housing, clothing, legal help or money to put food on the table.

After months of counseling at The Crossing Church following her darkest hours, English was able to re-enroll in graduate school at Springfield College School of Human Services in Tampa. She wrote her thesis about the idea of creating a women's resource center like the one she operates.

With the help of 12 like-minded women, her research team, English developed the program that today steers women toward jobs, medical help, child care, legal assistance and other resources.

The center opened in 2003 and, during its first year, served 100 women. By 2007, English gave up her previous job to work for the center full time. BayLife Church provides rent-free space at the back of its campus and has donated 5 acres for the housing project.

"There are so many people out there that need help," said Sandi de Laski, who recently signed up to volunteer at the center. "These women are similar to us. Everybody knows somebody going through crisis."

Tamara Brown's problems started when her health began to deteriorate. After working as a dental technician for 20 years, her hands seized up. She suffers from arthritis and back problems and is unable to work.

Things seemed to improve when an old relationship reignited, but it was short-lived, and soon she was behind on the bills.

A counselor at the Family Pastoral Counseling Center at BayLife Church Family Pastoral Counseling Center at BayLife Church referred Brown to the Women's Resource Center.

"Immediately, they started helping me with an attorney and Medicaid. Life has its twists and turns," Brown said. "It's not always easy."

For Rose Pineda, a young wife and mother of 1-year-old son Alexis, the money and supplies to survive just weren't there. Her husband, Alexis, works at Taco Bell, but the family needs more income to make ends meet, she said.

The Hillsborough County Health Department directed her to the center, where she received groceries and guidance on finding a day job.

"I need to work days because my husband works nights, and we need to take care of the baby," she said.

Husbands and other means of support are the exception for many women who turn to the center for help. Most are single. Many are homeless.

"Single women are definitely a sub-population of the homeless," said Lesa Weikel, community relations manager for the Homeless Coalition of Hillsborough County.

"I don't have a specific percentage, but I do know that the last statistics from the Florida Department of Children & Families in 2003 shows that statewide, 84 percent of homeless families were single mothers with children.

"The number of homeless women has gone up in the last two years, as has the number of children," Weikel said. "When we did our homeless census in 2007, 16 percent were children and 37 percent were women."

In 2005, only 11 percent were children and 26 percent women, she said.

Sometimes generational issues lead to financial instability - such as child abuse, alcoholism and co-dependence.

"We act as a surrogate family," English said. "A lot of these women are separated from their families for one reason or another and a lot of them just can't survive on their own."

English has plans to build 21 950-square-foot houses to provide emergency and transitional housing for women working to get their lives back on track.

"Part of the houses will be available for spur-of-the-moment help. Families can stay in them for up to 30 days. Others will be for people looking to clean up their credit, get a job or get into school, she said. Those tenants can stay for six to nine months.

Rent will be set on a sliding scale.

"The goal is self-sufficiency," English said.

With the help of local architects at Brandon-based Brad Design & Engineering, site developers Dallas 1 Corp. and builder Chadwell Homes, English said she hopes to break ground on the project by the end of the year.

The resource center is seeking corporate donations and private contributions to fund the project. Each two-bedroom, one bath house will cost $35,000 to $50,000 to build.

The resource center is funded through corporate contributions, donations and grants. In addition to offering resources to families in need, the center keeps a food pantry and a clothes closet stocked by individual donations and by SteinMart's DignityUWear Foundation.

To learn about how to contribute, volunteer or get help from the resource center, go to www.wrctampa.org>, or call (813) 661-3696, Ext. 242.

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