Westwood Cares: Serving a Community for Moms
The Mom Community, based out of Atlanta, GA, meets an important need in their local community by giving single moms the opportunity to grow as new parents while developing a comprehensive plan of support in a Christ-centered loving environment. The Mom Community originated with Christy Smucker, who began supporting moms seven years ago. From there, she and two other Founding Members, Takia Lamb and Amanda Mullen sought to provide a safe place for newly single mothers to grow into motherhood. In this community, it is estimated that 90% of homes have single parents. The Mom Community seeks to ease that burden on new moms who face food and housing insecurities by looking at what it would take to provide for a mom to move into stability. While there are many organizations that offer assistance for these single moms, there is no other comprehensive program in the area that meets the long-term needs of both the mother and the baby.
Currently, the home provided by The Mom Community has room for two single mothers, their children and a staff member to offer full-time support. While a place to live itself would be amazing for new moms to receive, The Mom Community goes further by providing them with parenting classes, career guidance, and rides to church to encourage their spiritual growth. One of their favorite parts of the program is the chance to give moms childcare and a time of rest by providing them with support groups where guest speakers come in to help with life skills or personal growth. This time also helps connect them with others who are in the same place of life, giving them a chance to build relationships with other women to form a strong emotional support connection.
The moms we serve are often overlooked, but really are wonderful women. Anyone who gets to know these women will be blessed. Getting involved is a great way to expand your view of the world and just how beautiful love can be. Oftentimes when we get involved in other people's lives, we learn a lot about ourselves and how to love in hard times and difficult places. -- Christy Smucker, Founder
A Need Arises and is Met
When it came time to find partners to invest in The Mom Community, Christy reached out to Westwood knowing our heart to serve and care for the community. She knew we have a desire for community building and connected with us concerning their need for improvements to the home they had purchased. This opportunity aligned perfectly with our beliefs that “life should be enjoyed and celebrated” and that “homes and families need space for life”.
This project was more than just an addition to a house, it represented what we believe in and was the perfect way to give back to the local community. It also represented the same values we put in our sheds. The idea of Built For Life is more than just a slogan—it is who we are. Our sheds enable people to live more fulfilling lives and this project offered us the chance to extend those beliefs to The Mom Community and impact the lives of mothers and their children.
Safe Spaces for Healing and Rest
Westwood Cares is our division that seeks to give back to our employees, their families, and the community with the mission to recognize hard work, help others when hard times come, and give back to our neighbors when a need arises. It was this division that was able to come in and meet The Mom Community’s needs through the building of a porch and fence, supporting the projects with both donations and labor.
Each of these building projects was an essential part of providing a safe space for The Mom Community. Westwood Sheds assisted in creating areas where moms can rest and children can play in a safe environment. According to Christy, the labor we provided was just as important as the donations. It gave a boost in energy to The Mom Community as well as encouragement and excitement for their much-needed work in the community.
Your Opportunity to Join In
In some ways, you have already joined in if you are a Westwood Sheds customer. If you have purchased a shed from us, you are a part of the monetary donation made to the Mom Community. For that, we thank you!
While this project met a need for The Mom Community to help them continue their work to give single moms and their children a safe place to grow, there is still much work left in their mission to serve their local area. Just this year, The Mom Community received seventy calls from single mothers who are looking for a safe space. With this rising demand, they have plans to expand and buy more homes to continue their much-needed mission. Unfortunately, Atlanta is experiencing a housing crisis and is currently designated as an unaffordable city.
If you feel called to support The Mom Community in its mission to serve single mothers, please click the link below to go to learn how you can support this amazing group through donations, financial support, and volunteering.
Find out how you can give back