Formed in 2011, MAW Charities is a nonprofit established to provide a range of assistance to previously married abandoned or widowed women and their children under the age of 18 who live at or below the poverty line. Our organization focuses on education, socialization, employment and self-esteem building. Collaborating with community agencies, MAW aspires to help single mothers gain the education and social skills necessary to enhance the quality of their daily lives and empower them by improving their economic opportunities. We also assist basic necessities, through referrals for food, clothes, housing and medical expenses in addition to education needs.
Poorer women with young children that have been abandoned or widowed, struggle to find employment and educational options closer to home because of transportation restrictions. This situation leads them to lower paying jobs like domestic workers, factory jobs, night jobs minimum wage options, all while leaving their children unattended without proper care. These situations contribute to a continuous cycle of poverty-stricken neighborhoods.
Our program aims to keep families safe and help them to become more prosperous by providing customized transportation options, that include but not limited to; major and minor car repairs, routine car maintenance, automobile purchases, car payments, Uber rides, short term childcare, and helping their children to build self-esteem by putting them in a more positive environment.
An example of our impact shows that we have provided more than 8,000 hours of temporary childcare, allowing our clients to focus on jobs, education, employment and building their confidence up after being broken down. We have purchased or acquired 22 automobiles, paid car payments, purchased towing cards, replaced transmissions & motors, books for school and assisted with high school diplomas.
Everyone we have assisted has been at or below the poverty line but many, have now been able to find better paying jobs outside of their neighborhoods reaching for a higher target.
Our Needs
Our greatest challenge is to provide reliable transportation for the abandoned or widowed mothers we serve. Without reliable transportation, these mothers will be unable to stay employed to provide for their families or to continue their education. While we fix up unreliable automobiles, our goal is to provide good used cars or new ones to ensure that their families are safe and income is sustained.
We aspire to have our own facility to keep cars on hand, provide fluid changes (oil, transmission, etc) for these new single moms. In addition, to provide tutoring, mentoring, SAT prep and, finance education.