'Mommunes': Mothers Are Living Single Together

Pioneered by Be Strong Families, Parent Cafes offer safe spaces for parents and caregivers to discuss the highs and lows of raising children. The cafes offer guidance and a sense of community, as parenting can feel lonely and isolating. Parent cafes have reached thousands of people since emerging in 2007, and 96% of participants say the cafes feel like safe places where they can learn.

Youth Villages, a nonprofit started in Tennessee over 30 years ago has helped improve the lives of children who face difficulties in their homes while saving money on the child welfare system. Instead of immediately removing children from their problematic homes, Youth Villages works on building relationships with the parents and providing in-home support services to both the parents and the children to ensure that they have a successful future. Additionally, the organization supports foster kids who age out of the system, and has managed to place many children back with their families securely.

The foster care system in Tennessee drastically reduced the number of children removed from their homes by implementing a preventive strategy that seeks to help parents remedy problems leading to child neglect. The strategy includes parenting classes, behavioral therapy, housing vouchers, and rehab, among other services. Fewer children in Tennessee face the trauma of entering the foster care system, easing the burden on case workers and allowing them to focus on victims of abuse who need their help the most.

For families involved with child protective services, a one-size-fits all mentality has been replaces with comprehensive and individualized services in some counties across the United States. Service providers in Pittsburgh and Alabama are focusing on in-home services, which have found to be cheaper and often more effective.

Homeless individuals who sleep in their car are often ticketed or woken in the middle of the night, it can also be an especially dangerous sleep setup for women. Lake Washington United Methodist Church started a Safe Parking Program that allows women to park overnight in their parking lot, use the bathroom and kitchen, and enjoy a sense of safety and community.

Latin American women in San Francisco have suffered from post-partum depression, social isolation, and chronic stress at the time of their pregnancies. Run by midwives, the Centering Pregnancy program at the San Francisco General Hospital provides patient-centered care, an environment to speak in Spanish, and a nurturing community for women’s group appointments. The results boast fewer c-sections and pre-term births, and an improvement in emotional support and overall prenatal health.

To educate and prepare new mothers, Centering Pregnancy and Centering Parenting sites in the United States offer community-based patient-centered care in low-income areas. Centering offers interactive learning, check-ups, and social support, so that women can take charge of their health.

In Kern County, where pregnancy-related mortality rates are more than double the California average and Black mothers face life-threatening complications at nearly three times the rate of white women, community doulas are working to bridge the gap between patients and the medical system. Since California expanded Medi-Cal coverage to include doula services in January 2023, more than 1,400 doulas have enrolled statewide, with active training pipelines building the workforce locally.

The Kids with a Vision Foundation (K-WAVF) provides care and shelter, particularly to vulnerable youth displaced by conflicts. K-WAVF’s team of community representatives also partners with local schools to take youth on educational field trips and provide vocational training. Since its inception in 2013, K-WAVF has extended its reach across five local government areas in the state.

Lumen High School enrolls pregnant and parenting teens, providing a “learn-as-you-go” approach to learning that makes it possible for them to parent and stay in school. The school provides full-day child care, free baby supplies, mental health counseling and other supports to help get students to graduation day. All the Lumen High School students who graduate have been accepted into college, with 95% enrolling or choosing to start working within the six months after graduation.