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Hello Community, I am sure you could add to this report with you own personal stories.

People you know, who are at wits end, trying to

figure out how they keep their lifestyle.

How they can improve their lifestyle.

Here what I suspect, that these people and the people you know, are still trying to use conventional ways to maintain. Primary, keep a job. Even if the job is not meeting needs.

Even if the job is not certain ( at least, I have a job is not statement of certainty anymore).

Here in, what is still, the most prosperous country, you can be in, people are trying to

win economic struggle with outdated methods.

Reality, in this country, you need to be operating a business.

Which business your choice, that is another beauty of the US of A

economic system. You must realize the old methods of financial improvement are gone.

You know, the promotion you will have in a couple of years. The new job you will get after you leave the old job, that was not working out, for you or the company. The “tax refund” check you made part of your financial relief plan. The loan, that seem like a good idea at the time, that is not available anymore. Paying off the loan, you have, early.

You can add your own methods. Question.

Your financial status you have right now , tells if any of those methods, worked for you.

For most of us, the blatant reality is, we better try “something else”.

Anything else!!!!

I will state that trying anything else is not the answer.

Locating something that works for you and you can maintain ,is what you have to be, on the look out for.

Do I have suggestions, of course, go to www.juniques.ws/allstar and look at one of them.

Start “opening your mind” to new POSITIVE possibilities. The old methods have already proven they are now working for you.

Don’t have any POSITIVE possibilities? Get around people who do. You are reading this, so you have access to internet. Start here.

Start looking into, online training, low cost business start up, assisting other with their possibility while you are working on your. GET BETTER AT NETWORKING!!!!!

You have contacts around the United States and International, with the internet and social group connections. You have professional who sharing information, at no cost, to you.

You can get training pretty much any area you can think of. You can put that training to use today. YES, THE POSSIBILITIES JUST GOT EXCITINGLY BETTER!!!!

Ask for help. Listen and Learn. Most Importantly ACT ON IT.

Positive action give you Self Empowerment. Self Empowerment gives you personal power.

Personal power develops a sense of purpose. A PURPOSEFUL PERSON WILL NOT BE STOPPED!!!

You realize you instantly become the “master of your destiny” not the external events happening around you.

Will it be easy? OF COURSE NOT!!!

But, it will be 1,000 times better than doing

NOTHING. Just waiting for “unfortunate” to visit your life and become an unwelcome life resident.

Need Help? Ask!!

Juniques Marketing

juniques@juniques.ws

You can be part of this story OR create your own!!!

Need new possibilities Visit www.juniques.ws/allstar

Americans tread water in gulf between rich, poor

By JIM FITZGERALD and VICKI SMITH, Associated Press Writers Jim Fitzgerald And Vicki Smith, Associated Press Writers – Fri Oct 1, 5:46 am ET

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. – A Wall Street adviser leaves early for work to avoid panhandlers at his suburban train station. In coal country, a suddenly homeless man watches from a bench as wealthy women shop for dresses. A down-and-out waitress sits glumly on her stoop across the street from a gleaming suburb. A freshly elected politician loses his day job.

They're the faces of a census report released this week showing that the gap between the richest and poorest Americans is wider than ever.

The recession technically ended in the middle of last year, but the numbers can't tell the whole story. The census report translates to stories of impatience, resignation and hopelessness for those who are living it across the country.

It's the story of Roy Houseman, who, having barely finished celebrating his election to the City Council in Missoula, Mont., was laid off. It's the story of Ashleigh Dorner, an unemployed Detroiter who has a car but no money for gas or insurance. It's the story of John Morgan, a financial adviser who avoids interaction with the poor in the gritty New York suburb of Mount Vernon.

And it's the story of Charles Fox.

Need new possibilities Visit www.juniques.ws/allstar

Fox, 68, has claimed a bench on High Street in Morgantown, W.Va. It's tucked between a pizza shop and a gelato stand he can't afford to visit. Beside him are two black trash bags stuffed with his belongings.

He had a home until last month, when a fire burned down one of the last cheap motels in town. Now he sits in the morning sunshine, worrying about the approach of winter.

"I ain't found no place to live yet," he says, staring down at the sidewalk.

Morgantown's metro area has the largest gap between rich and poor in the 50 states, the new census figures say. That's partly because it's a college town, and the number of students is growing rapidly, along with the low-paying jobs that support them.

College towns also have highly paid professors, researchers and doctors. And they're a landlord's market: Fox, who was spending $450 a month on rent — three-quarters of his monthly disability check — says he can't find a room for under $1,000 a month.

He used to work in a coal mine, but a blocked artery in his leg makes walking and standing — and holding a job — difficult. At night, he finds a bunk at a packed homeless shelter.

Need new possibilities Visit www.juniques.ws/allstar

"I sit up here on the street in the daytime and just wonder, 'Where am I going to go?'" he says. Tears fall as he adds, "Sometimes I go two or three days without anything to eat."

Across the street is Coni & Franc's, where blouses go for $100 and gowns for thousands. But owner Constance Chico Merandi says she deals with the homeless and working poor, too.

There's a sale table with $10 shoes, and sometimes Merandi, 51, pulls an already discounted dress from her sale rack and lets it go for less to a woman dreaming of a wedding gown she knows she can't afford.

"It's just part of living and coexisting here," she says. "We realize we have to do something."

Meanwhile, Fox sits on his bench and waits for his luck to change.

"You ain't got a chance anymore in this town," he says. "You really don't."

Need new possibilities Visit www.juniques.ws/allstar

John Morgan, a financial adviser on Wall Street, goes to work earlier some mornings to avoid panhandlers at the railroad station in Mount Vernon, a struggling city of 68,000 bordering the Bronx.

He has no interaction with other residents, including the poor — and doesn't want any.

Warily eyeing a man begging commuters for "train fare," Morgan says, "This guy hits me all the time. At first I gave him a dollar or two and now he sees me coming."

Morgan, 64, is a widower who lives alone in a condominium apartment. He and his wife raised a family in a house in neighboring Pelham before moving two years ago to one of Mount Vernon's more pleasant neighborhoods.

"I don't have anything to do with Mount Vernon," Morgan says. "I shop in Pelham. I go straight out to my house on Long Island on the weekends. I've never spent a weekend in Mount Vernon."

As Morgan spoke, police patrolled the downtown train station, where a missing-woman flier hung.

He has his doubts about the statistics revealing a wider gap between rich and poor. The data showed that the top-earning 20 percent of Americans — those making more than $100,000 each year — received 49.4 percent of all income. The bottom 20 percent took in just 3.4 percent of income.

"Things aren't good out there," he says. "I think the rich are getting poorer and the poor are staying poor."

Need new possibilities Visit www.juniques.ws/allstar

Ashleigh Dorner was getting by, she says, until job losses in and around Detroit stunted business at the restaurants where she hustled for tips to augment her lower-than-minimum-wage pay. Around the same time, her boyfriend began bringing home less money as home improvement work dried up.

Now she's unemployed and they have to live on the $1,000 per month he earns and "a lot of help from family," Dorner says, sitting with her 2-year-old daughter on the stoop of their rented home.

They have no telephone. They have a car, but they can't afford to put it on the road.

"We don't have money for car insurance or even gas," says Dorner, 25. "My boyfriend rides his bike back and forth to work."

Their home on Detroit's far east side is across the street from one of the affluent communities known as the Grosse Pointes.

Jon Gandelot, 67, lives and practices estate planning law in Grosse Pointe Farms, where fancy homes sit serenely on professionally manicured lawns, just blocks from some of Detroit's worst neighborhoods.

Gandelot holds little hope for a recovered Detroit, where the unemployment rate is approaching 30 percent. Driving through the city to get to his suburb is "like day and night, but it has been this way for 30 years," he says.

"Detroit has always had promises of a renaissance. It just never comes to fruition," says Gandelot, an estate planning attorney.

Dorner says she knows her high school diploma doesn't count for much in this economy, and she doesn't resent her wealthy neighbors.

"I don't hold any hard feelings toward them," she says. "I wish I could be in their situation."

Need new possibilities Visit www.juniques.ws/allstar_

When the linerboard plant at Smurfit-Stone Container in Missoula, Mont., was shutting down, 29-year-old Roy Houseman became one of more than 400 workers in the cold.

His situation was unique: As a newly elected city councilman, Houseman was expected to help move Missoula's economy forward after losing $60,000 of his annual income. He was left with just the $12,500 a year he was pulling in as a part-time councilman.

He saw his co-workers forced into retirement or out of Missoula. Most were in their 50s, an age that can cause a would-be employer to blanch.

Need new possibilities Visit www.juniques.ws/allstar

Houseman and his wife, Andrea, knew they didn't want to leave Missoula. The mountain town is considered Montana's cultural center, with its university, professional population and urbane atmosphere.

But Missoula also has the state's largest homeless shelter, serving as many as 350 people a day.

Andrea Houseman was able to find a better-paying job to help them get by. Roy Houseman started graduate school at the University of Montana, hoping to position himself for better economic times.

"As the recession goes, I think people try to find places to shelter — and universities are places to shelter," he says.

The Housemans put on hold their plans to have children, as well as their plans to save for retirement.

"That's one thing I have to say the recession has taught me," Houseman says. "It's hard to plan long term."

Need new possibilities Visit www.juniques.ws/allstar

Smith reported from Morgantown. Corey Williams in Detroit, Matt Volz in Helena, Mont., and Hope Yen in Washington contributed to this report.

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Improve Your Relationship






Women of Wisdom and Understanding


Your journey towards mutual understanding and better communication in your relationship. Together 5 months, 5 years or
50 years, learning the steps of P-I-L-L-A-R can strengthen the relationship you have with the man in your life.


Learning to use the steps of P-I-L-L-A-R will help you communicate the way he needs you to. Men and women are different, but that doesn't mean that our relationship needs to be difficult.




Join us for this great teleseminar. Morning & afternoon times available. Only $24.99






Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Friday, October 1, 2010





Wednesday, October 13, 2010


Thursday, October 21, 2010



All dates offer a

1pm-2pm and 4pm - 5pm option
REGISTER NOW! http://wowu.eventbrite.com/

You can have the relationship that you've always wanted.


Updated to include SINGLE ladies in a relationship.




Watch the Video

Women of Wisdom and Understanding from Rev. Angela Chester on Vimeo.

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DO YOU NEED SCHOLARSHIPS FOR COLLEGE ?

(New scholarships posted everyday)

Students Seeking Education by Experiencing Academic America (S.E.A.)

an Houston, Texas based mentoring program for high school students, students at risk, and college bound students who want to attend an Historically Black College / University. (HBCU).

S.E.A will post a scholarship for minority students each day. If you are a high school senior, junior, or an transferring college student, these scholarships are for you. FREE MONEY! We all know through life there is nothing Free, you have to apply to receive this money. Your cost is time. The time it takes to fill out the scholarship application.. Look for the S.E.A. blog each day, highlighting a new scholarship listing 2010/2011

 

Albany State University

Albany, Georgia

Albany State University, a historically black institution in Southwest Georgia, has been a catalyst for change in the region from its inception as the Albany Bible and Manual Training Institute to its designation as a university. Founded in 1903 to educate African American youth, the University proudly continues to fulfill its historic mission while also serving the educational needs of an increasingly diverse student population.

A progressive institution, Albany State University seeks to foster the growth and development of the region, state and nation through teaching, research, creative expression and public service. Through its collaborative efforts, the University responds to the needs of all its constituents and offers educational programs and service to improve the quality of life in Southwest Georgia.

The primary mission of Albany State University is to educate students to become outstanding contributors to society. Offering Bachelor's, Master's and Education Specialist degrees and a variety of non-degree educational programs, the University emphasizes the liberal arts as the foundation for all learning by exposing students to the Humanities, Fine Arts, Social Sciences and the Sciences. Global learning is fostered through a broad-based curriculum, diverse University activities and the expanding use of technology.

A leader in teacher education, nursing, criminal justice, business, public administration and the sciences, Albany State provides a comprehensive educational experience with quality instruction as the hallmark of all its academic programs. The University embraces the concept of "students first" as a core institutional value. The University advocates the total development of students, especially the under served, and provides a wholesome academic environment in which students can study, learn and develop through their interaction with fellow students, faculty, staff, administrators, visiting scholars and community leaders.

www.asurams.edu

 

SCHOLARSHIP OF THE DAY

10-1-2010

Automotive Hall of Fame Scholarships

The Automotive Hall of Fame serves as administrator to over $20,000 in combined college scholarships annually. The applicant must indicate a sincere interest in an automotive related career.

The opportunities include the Larry H. Averill Memorial Scholarship the Harold Dieckmann Draper, Sr. Scholarship, the John E. Echlin Memorial Scholarship, the Carlyle Fraser / Wilton Looney Scholarship, the John Goerlich Memorial Scholarship, the Charles V. Hagler Scholarship, the Zenon C.R. Hansen Memorial Scholarship, the John W. Koons, Sr. Memorial Scholarship, and many more.

Opportunities are available for part-time and full-time students. GPA requirements and level of financial need varies. All scholarships can be applied to using the same application form.

Award Amount :
Varies

Deadline:
June 1

Website/Contact Info:
www.automotivehalloffame.org/scholarships.php

 

 

p.s. If you need help in your scholarship search, please contact S.E.A. c/o

NORRIS COLEMAN @ mr.nncoleman@yahoo.com

*As part of S.E.A. Mentoring Program, we want to build our Mentees vocabulary. S.E.A. has chosen to italicize words and statements in blue for our Mentee to understand and use in their vocabulary

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Having a well thought out personal brand strategy is the fastest and best way to promote yourself in any career.

There are, however, 3 key mistakes many professionals make with their brand that keep them from advancing further in their career.


Personal Brand Mistake #1 - Failure to think like an entrepreneur at work. These days it's now more important than ever to recognize that things aren't like they used to be. Whether you work for someone else or not, do not make the mistake of having an employee mindset - you are self-employed.


What to do instead - To boost your perceived value at work so that you are top choice for the best job opportunities, it's time you start thinking like a business owner. Be an independent thinker, offer creative solutions, and always think a couple of steps ahead, strategically positioning yourself for the next action in case (B) happens instead of (A). Get noticed for your ability to be a results-driver who is adaptable to change, because change is happening faster and bigger these days.


Personal Brand Mistake #2 - Failure to track your own accomplishments and articulate them well. You can not rely on your manager to understand the work you do, or to know when recognition is warranted.


What to do instead - Keep track of accomplishments, praise reports, and great results you have achieved with and for your business partners. When the time comes to sit down for that next performance review, be ready to list out how well you have contributed to the company's overall goals. And if that performance review somehow does not get scheduled? Make an appointment yourself to meet with the manager and share your accomplishments, in a way that boosts their confidence in your work as an achiever. This record will also be great for your portfolio when it's time to move on.


Personal Brand Mistake #3 - Failure to connect with people who can be champions for your success. It's great to spend time with your colleagues at work - after all, we spend a large part of the week there. But many people mistake this group as their group of supporters.


What to do instead - Make sure you are connecting with people of influence outside of your normal circle. Tap into knowledge and experience that will help you broaden your thinking. Share solutions and creative ideas when you meet with mentors - formally or informally. They might just be your champion behind the scenes when you need it most.


I would like to invite you to claim FREE Instant Access to my Beginner's Guide to a Successful Career Brand when you visit http://bepromotable.com. You'll get a set of 3 great articles, along with a Promotability Quiz. Are you promotable?


From Tanya Smith, The Expert Brand Coach and The CareerPreneur Success Circle.


Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Tanya_M._Smith

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Your Image Equals Income

What is your image? How do you appeal to those that you market to? Do you look the part? Your image is a direct reflection of your business and therefore your image needs to match what you are attempting to deliver. As you’ve heard countless times before, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression.” You are in essence a walking advertising of your business.

Many people fail to realize just how much that first impressions matter. Image is everything to a lot of people, especially to the customer. If people are not happy or comfortable with your business image, they will more than likely not do business with you. If someone did do business with you for a first time even though they were not completely comfortable or happy with your image, they will probably not be back. Your image directly impacts your profit potential. Perfect it

Click here to learn more about realizing your profit potential.

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DO YOU NEED SCHOLARSHIPS FOR COLLEGE ?


NEW LISTING

(New scholarships posted everyday)

Students Seeking Education by Experiencing Academic America (S.E.A.)

an Houston, Texas based mentoring program for high school students, students at risk, and college bound students who want to attend an Historically Black College / University. (HBCU).

S.E.A will post a scholarship for minority students each day. If you are a high school senior, junior, or an transferring college student, these scholarships are for you. FREE MONEY! We all know through life there is nothing Free, you have to apply to receive this money. Your cost is time. The time it takes to fill out the scholarship application.. Look for the S.E.A. blog each day, highlighting a new scholarship listing 2010/2011

 

Alabama State University

Montgomery, Alabama

Alabama State University, founded in 1867, is a comprehensive regional university offering students from throughout the region, state and nation a world class education by providing learning experiences designed to develop intellectual abilities, as well as social, moral, cultural and ethical values. In so doing, the university is equipping its students with the skills, insights, attitudes and practical experiences that will enable them to become well-rounded and discerning citizens, fully qualified for their chosen professions in the workplace and service to humanity.

Alabama State University boasts an enrollment of more than 5,000 students from 42 states and 7 countries. One-third of our students are non-Alabama residents and 11 percent are minorities. With a student-faculty ratio of 18 to 1, instructors are able to work closely with students, encourage ambition, and challenge students to meet their academic success.

ASU is an aesthetically beautiful campus. It’s eclectic mix of Georgian-style red-brick classroom buildings and architecturally contemporary structures are unparalleled to other institutions of higher learning. ASU is home to the state-of-the-art 7,400 seat academic and sports facility the Joe L. Reed Acadome; the Levi Watkins Learning Center; a five-story brick structure with more than 267,000 volumes, the state-of-the-art John L. Buskey Health Sciences Center; which is 80,000 square-feet facility which houses classrooms, offices, an interdisciplinary clinic, three therapeutic rehabilitation labs, state-of-the-art Gross Anatomy Lab, Laboratory for the Analysis of Human Motion (LAHM), a Women’s Health/Cardiopulmonary lab, and a health sciences computer lab, and WVAS-FM 90.7; the 80,000-watt, university operated public radio station.

www.alasu.edu

SCHOLARSHIP OF THE DAY

9-30-2010

Jacob K. Javits Fellowship

Scholarship ID: 90107

The Jacob K. Javits Fellowship program provides fellowships to students of superior academic ability—selected on the basis of demonstrated achievement, financial need, and exceptional promise—to undertake study at the Doctoral and Master of Fine Arts level in selected fields of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences.

Contact: U.S. Department of Education,

OPE Address International Education and Graduate Programs Service
1990 K Street NW, 6th Floor
Washington, DC 20006-8521
Phone: 202-502-7569 Email Address: ope-javits-program@ed.gov Application Deadline: October 1, 2010

Number Of Awards: See Description

Maximum Amount See Description

Website Address: http://www.ed.gov/programs/javits/index.html

p.s. If you need help in your scholarship search, please contact S.E.A. c/o

NORRIS COLEMAN @ mr.nncoleman@yahoo.com

*As part of S.E.A. Mentoring Program, we want to build our Mentees vocabulary. S.E.A. has chosen to italicize words and statements in blue for our Mentee to understand and use in their vocabulary

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How to Find a Business Mentor

Since women think like women and men think like men you may be better off finding a female mentor. Women also encounter a different set of problems in the work force than men do. For example, a female mentor may be better able to tell you how to crack a male-dominated industry or how to deal with gender discrimination issues.There are many women-helping-women organizations that have mentor programs but if you already know a professional who might serve as a good mentor approach the subject casually at first. Being a mentor can be time consuming and is something that must work for both mentor and protégé (you).

Before you ask someone to become your mentor make sure you are willing to take direction from them otherwise you will just be wasting everyone’s time. Remember, you are looking for solutions, guidance, and concrete advice – not an executive to “wow” with how great your ideas are. If all your ideas are truly that great you do not need a mentor – you should consider becoming one!

To find a mentor in your industry contact a professional association or call your local social or human services department to see if free mentor programs are available in your area.

You can also register with Micromentor2 and see if they can match you with a volunteer mentor. The service is free but the application takes about 30 minutes to complete online.

Choosing a Friend to Be Your Mentor is Not a Good Idea

While it is helpful if you and your mentor get along on a personal level a mentor’s role is to serve as your professional guide not as a personal friend. It is vital that you be able to accept advice from a mentor and stay focused on the business. This is much harder to do if you choose someone already close to you to be a mentor. It is better to save friend and family resources for networking!

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Raising Him Alone: Single mother parenting



Raising Him Alone: An Interview with David Miller
BMIA Blog: http://bmia.wordpress.com
Written by BMIA Reporter, Vanessa Werts

Across America, in the inner-city and in suburbia, single mothers struggle with raising boys alone. This issue has clearly emerged as one of the most consequential trends facing society today. And David Miller, co-author of the book, Raising Him Alone, is on a personal mission, standing watch, doing his part to support single mothers – Black single mothers in particular – and the positive development of Black males.

During my interview with Miller at the 2010 National Congressional Black Caucus Book Pavilion, his passion was contagious. Miller’s vision is for the well being of everyone involved in the struggle from the son to the mother or caregiver to the absent-father alike. Therefore, it is only natural that he would be co-founder of the Raising Him Alone Campaign, a national movement that executes the foundational principles he and co-author Matthew P. Stevens address in their book [Raising Him Alone].


Single mother parenting was long thought to be primarily an African-American problem, stemming from poverty and poor education. However over the last decade, it has become an epidemic crossing both racial and class lines. “We started the campaign to really focus on Black and Latina moms,” says Miller. “But we get a tremendous amount of calls from White mothers. The issue is beyond an epidemic.”


Miller shared with me insights about the book, the campaign, and the community activities and resources dedicated to inspire and inform the millions of single mothers who struggle daily with the challenges of raising boys.


The David Miller Interview

BMIA: What is the Raising Him Alone campaign about?
D. Miller: The campaign is a movement to provide greater access to resources for single mothers and grandmothers throughout this country.


BMIA: Where does your passion for this movement or your connection to this issue come from?
D. Miller: When I was a freshman in college, my best friend was shot and killed standing next to me and I was 19-years-old. I was at Morgan, he was at Morehouse; some guys tried to rob us...they shot my friend in the back and he died in my arms. And since then I’ve dedicated my life to really improving the lives of children and families in this country. And so, I’m real clear that we’ve got to do this work in our communities, or else we’re not going to make it.


BMIA: When does the campaign kick-off?
D. Miller: The campaign kicked-off in January 2009, however we are still providing a strong front in 2010. We did a major launch in two cities: Baltimore and Newark, New Jersey. I invited some dynamic mothers who’ve raised sons to come and help me kick it off. Common’s [rapper, actor] mother, Dr. Mahalia Hines; Mos Def’s [rapper, actor] mother, Sheron Smith; and Talib Kweli’s [rapper, activist] mother, Dr. Brenda Greene. I brought them on-board to help me launch the two cities, and now we’ve expanded to Chicago and Philadelphia. These are our four main cities. But we’re working in communities across this country really doing some very interesting viable Web-based things like using Facebook to create discussion groups with moms. We’re creating a tremendous movement around serious parenting.


BMIA: What has been the response to campaign?
D. Miller: The response has been absolutely overwhelming. We average about forty phone calls and E-mails a week from mothers who are in some of the roughest parts of say, maybe Memphis, DC, or Newark, New Jersey, to moms that have MBA degrees, PhD degrees from excellent colleges and universities, who got divorced and for whatever reason, dad hasn’t stepped up. And so it’s been an amazing cross-section of parents from different socioeconomic backgrounds.


BMIA: Have you in any way included fathers in the campaign?
D. Miller: Yes. Historically, my background is I’ve written two other books about responsible fatherhood. And so, year one was really to launch the campaign and raise money. Year two has really been focused on launching the largest responsible fatherhood Web site you’ll find in this country which we’re gonna try to connect it with President Obama’s Responsible Fatherhood Initiative. I was in Washington three weeks ago speaking to all of the federal grantees that received responsible fatherhood money. The Web site is going to be for any dad: married dads, divorced dads, military; dads that are incarcerated, to really talk about what does it mean to be an exceptional father. And so dads are an integral part of the campaign.


BMIA: What type of information can single mothers expect from the book, Raising Him Alone?
D. Miller: In the book, we kind of roll out a blueprint of how to raise a son, as well as things like mentoring. Susan Taylor has a national initiative; Michael Baisden has a national initiative on mentoring. The reality is in all those initiatives, we’ve not gotten enough black and brown men to sign up and honor their commitment. So one of the things we talk about is, while we’re trying to find a mentor for the boy, there’s things mom has to do in the home. For example, number one is the boy can never be the man of the house. That’s a mistake that I think mothers make, particularly as boys get to adolescence. Moms say you’re the man of the house because your father is not here. And what happens with a lot of boys is they think because dad’s not here I need to step up and bring money in. So a lot of boys will start steeling cars, selling drugs…

You start to see a lot of pathologies exist because mom has told this 13-year-old that he’s man of the house. So a lot of what we’re trying to do is really work with community-based organizations and work with schools. We’ve created an awesome learning community so mothers can go to our Web site, sign up and they can receive free text messages, free voicemail message about being a good parent…about financial literacy tips. We send out an e-mail blast that goes out to about 11,000 mothers and grandmothers across the country.

We’ve created a Facebook group, Single Mothers Raising Boys, with over 1,000 mothers connected to that. The goal is also connecting mothers to resources, things like mental health; things like credit repair; a lot of stuff on co-parenting. I mean when you look at the divorce rates in our community, we’re in trouble. We’re in serious trouble.


BMIA: Have you had any testimonials on the impact of the work you’re doing?
D. Miller: We’ve had some amazing testimonials. I’ll start with Ms. Mildred, a 74-year-old great-grandmother living in the projects in the West Ward in Newark, raising five boys by herself… hypertension and diabetes. When we went to go interview Ms Mildred, we were able to stop her from getting evicted from her apartment. We were able to connect her to free mental health services for both herself and for those boys. Even though the boys are all under 12-years-old, you started to really see some behavioral challenges with those boys. We can document many of the families that we’ve reached as well as the dads that we’ve reached.

And that’s one of the reasons why we decided to create the fatherhood Web site. We met a brother in Michigan whose children lived in Atlanta, Georgia and we were able to re-connect him with his children. Because he was a long distance dad, we were able to work with him and work with the mom to develop some strategies. One of the first things we did was recommend that the dad buy a cell phone and mail it to the boy so the boy could call his dad. But we had to go through the mom to help her work through her own issues because they didn’t get married to say, this is something that can happen. And so, even being able to work through something as simple as communication with the father and son is another example.

The Raising Him Alone Campaign seeks to create a larger community dialogue around the importance of supporting single mothers raising boys. Through partnerships with a host of organizations, they are mobilizing single mothers and absent-fathers to save our future, particularly our boys.


The siren is blaring. The call to engage the issues in raising healthy, positive boys demands our attention. What price will society ultimately play if this trend continues? The clock is ticking.
To learn more about Raising Him Alone, the book, and the work co-founders, David Miller and Matthew P. Stevens are doing with the Raising Him Alone Campaign, visit www.RaisingHimAlone.com.

BMIA.com Reporter Vanessa Werts and David Miller
David C. Miller, M.Ed. is the co-founder and Chief Visionary Officer of the Urban Leadership Institute, LLC, (www.urbanyouth.org) a social enterprise that focuses on developing positive youth development strategies. ULI provides strategic planning, professional development, positive youth development concepts and crisis management services.


Thank you Lee McDonald from The Renaissance Group (TRG) for making this interview possible. View more articles on the BMIA blog: http://bmia.wordpress.com





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