Monday, September 9, 2024
Parenting is hard enough when two parents are involved — but for single mothers, the weight of carrying that responsibility alone can feel overwhelming at times.
As a widow, Molly Williams knows exactly what that feeling is like, which is why she felt compelled to help other single moms navigate life through the guidance of Jesus Christ and her nonprofit: Many Mansions.
Founded in 2018, Many Mansions provides life-giving resources — through Christ’s Kingdom — to single moms with dependent children in Hood, Somervell and Johnson counties in Texas.
“Many Mansions exists to serve widows and orphans,” Williams says in a video on the Many Mansions website. “We consider widows and orphans to be not just someone whose husband passed away from this Earth, but also someone who's been abandoned and is raising their kids on their own.”
Williams met her now-husband, Mike, through GriefShare, as they had both lost their spouses. As Molly was a single mom and Mike was raised by a single mother, the couple felt there was a reason they were brought together.
“We kind of knew that there was more to the story than just the two of us,” Molly told the Hood County News. “We just kind of kept having single moms put in our path to help and as we helped them, we started thinking about starting a nonprofit.”
According to Molly, Many Mansions helps single moms in a variety of areas — anything from a month’s rent to utility bills to even education.
"We knew when we started, we wouldn't be able to really cover everything ourselves, so we've partnered with some people,” she explained. “We pretty much like to be the hands and feet of Jesus where we can. We’ve helped with people getting cars, because if you can’t get to work and you can’t get your kids to school, you really can’t provide for yourself, so all of those necessities that they have to do to survive, we help with.”
A central theme to Many Mansions is to “pivot” to other organizations that share in its mission. Pivot Partners are organizations that focus on a specific set of needs, whether that be helping with automotive needs, job skills, mentoring young men to learn skills, or even protecting single moms from dangerous situations.
Many Mansions’ Pivot Partners include: Good Samaritan Auto (automotive repair), PaPa’s Pantry (food and nutrition), churches (community), Ada Carey Shelter for Women and Children (safety and shelter) Forward Training Center (job training, finances) and Advance Camp (equipping the fatherless).
“Three out of five children are being raised in a fatherless home,” Molly said. “Fatherless children are at a dramatically higher risk of drug and alcohol abuse, mental illness, poor educational performance, teenage pregnancy and criminality. These moms are doing the best they can on their own, but we get to help support them in trying to be both mom and dad for their children and show their children their Heavenly Father. One of the best ways to do this is to connect them to the body of Christ and to his resources. It is why we do what we do.”
Last year, Many Mansions helped a total of 94 single moms. There are currently eight open cases right now, including several mothers who are escaping domestic violence situations.
“We help moms who might be in an abusive situation, and they can hide for a period of time,” Molly said. “It's really neat to give them some hope. I know from being a single mom myself that you're just beat up. I mean, you're trying to do mom, you're trying to do dad, and your kids don't understand why they don't have this, and they don't have that, and why dad's not there. There's just a lot of pressure in the world, and you're trying to earn money and do everything you can to take care of your kids, and sometimes (you feel) very helpless. It's great that God has given us resources and things so that we can help them have some hope and know that they have the Savior.”
Traci Cooper-Ives, program director for Many Mansions, also echoed Molly’s statements regarding feelings of helplessness.
"For me personally, I was a single mom for five years, and it was a very lonely place,” Cooper-Ives said. “You feel beat up. You have to figure it out all on your own.”
Cooper-Ives said more than anything, she wants to offer single moms hope through mentorship opportunities within local churches.
"Molly and I both go to StoneWater Church and Molly was part of a single mom's ministry before Many Mansions ever started. I was grateful to find that ministry because in many churches, you hear a lot about families and couples, so you kind of feel like you don't fit," she said. “But when I found that ministry, it was just life changing to have people that got me and then that led to three specific friends that I still talk to every single day. Even though I'm married now, we are still talking all the time and supporting each other. That made all the difference in my life to help me know I wasn't alone."
Now years later, Cooper-Ives' main role with Many Mansions is to help churches develop their own single mom’s ministries to foster a sense of community between women who need that type of support.
"Churches have volunteers and people who have hearts to help single moms, so we're just trying to give those churches resources to do that, so that we can connect the moms we help with to those churches, and they can also send moms to us,” Cooper-Ives said. “That's the blessing that we really want.”
Support for Many Mansions — from financial and housing to clothing and cars — comes from donations and events. As a faith-based 501(c)(3) organization, Many Mansions does not receive funding from any government entity, and yet is still able to operate on less than 3% of its budget for operations.
"People who want to help certainly can give," Cooper-Ives said. “Our budget comes from two events and also individual and corporate sponsorships, so we certainly love that. We have opportunities for people to volunteer at different events, and if somebody just has an idea of how they want to volunteer, we'd be open to hearing that, but right now, the biggest, biggest way that people can help is if they go to a church, and they have a heart to start a ministry. It can be a small group, but just helping to connect us with the right people at churches, so that we can help them start that ministry (would be a big help).”
There are four ways to get involved with Many Mansions: as a donor partner, as a volunteer, as a Pivot Partner, or as a church partner.
Molly added that monthly donors also help immensely, as staff can know what to expect each month in terms of finances.
“Of course, praying for us as a group and getting involved is great, too,” she added.
Many Mansions defines a “single mom” as a mother whose children are under the age of 19, lives in either Somervell, Hood or Johnson County, and is legally and physically without a spouse or live-in partner. Many Mansions does not define a candidate to be a single mom if she is married, engaged to be wed, or otherwise engaged in a relationship outside that of biblical marriage. Mothers who are in the process of divorce are considered on a case-by-case scenario but are generally not a focus of the organization.
To apply for assistance from Many Mansions, single mothers can go online to many-mansions.org and fill out an application. After receiving an application, a case manager will contact that individual within 24 hours to go over the application and discuss next steps.
For more information or to donate to Many Mansions, visit many-mansions.org online or email manymansionssinglemoms@gmail.com. Donations can also be mailed to: Many Mansions P.O. Box 2475 Glen Rose, TX 76043.
