ParentRise

by Loretta Maase, M.A.

At ParentRise, we say that we have an outreach of bringing healing and hope to children growing up in single-parent homes. Why so much need for healing and hope, and why target single-parent homes?

All children are touched by family challenges from time to time. The good outweighs the bad in many families, and children grow accordingly.

However, for children being raised in single-parent homes the good doesn’t always outweigh the bad. These children are typically the “silent sufferers”. They go to bed at night wondering, on some level, what they did to cause such pain in their families. I can assure you, deep within, they take responsibility for it. Because of their self-centered natures they have no option but to take in their world, internalize it, and wonder what it is about them that causes the chaos.

You can see the hurt on their faces if you look closely enough. They’re the children on the playground with darkness around their eyes, or those who are always playing alone, or those with a sense of despair and agitation about them. 

Four year olds, wondering how they made mom or dad leave.

For most children much of the pain and hurt happen “after the fact”.

It’s not just the loss of their parent that causes so much hurt. It’s the ongoing crisis after the fact where so much of the damage is done. It’s hard for children to heal because they never get the chance. There’s ongoing trauma around visitation and transitioning between two homes, around feeling guilty about leaving one parent behind, around the incredible stress in the home due to financial hardship. The list goes on and on.

Our goal at Parent Rise is to provide every possible resource to help single parents become successful on their own – to help make their position strong and secure so that they can be strong and secure for their children.

When I became a single parent there were very few resources available to help me. I hear that same frustration over and over again today from parents facing the same challenges – there’s really nowhere for a single mother or father to turn for help. They don’t know where to begin and our communities are ill-prepared.  

But help is possible and is happening in “pockets” in some communities. Our desire is to provide the most comprehensive, practical, effective resources and tools together in one place – help that will really make a difference in parents’ lives today.If it makes a difference in parents’ lives today – it will make a difference in their children’s lives tomorrow.

That is why we say our calling is to bring healing and hope to millions of children growing up in single-parent homes.

We are working hard to generate the best resources available today for: family members, counselors, social workers, attorneys, churches, singles ministries, and of course, single parents. Our goal at Parent Rise is to help single parents. Our mission is to restore a sense of home, hope, and security to their children.