See Beautiful Grant Applicant: Mothers Advocacy Project

The feature below is brought to you by Mothers Advocacy Project, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about our giving initiatives, please click here.
 
To learn more about the featured organization, please visit their website here.

Harry Potter Jelly Beans. You can’t judge a book by its cover.

2020 has been a year of “mishaps and learnings”, a year of “lets try better tomorrow”, and a year of “will tomorrow ever be better?” And if there is anything we have learned, it is that things are never what they seem. In the first four years of our organization, Mothers Advocacy Project, (which went through a name change from Foster Care Alliance this year) we have had a lot of tweaking and trying and figuring out the best course forward. And for the mothers In our program, they have done the same to find their best selves and be the best mothers they can be. Making changes and learning from failures is hard as an organization and maybe even harder as a human being. However, even when it is hard, it becomes less scary and less risky, when you know you have someone who believes the best in you, who will be your safety net when you stumble.

I saw a quote one time that I really loved and it really struck me. The quote said “Diversity is being invited to the party. Inclusion is being asked to dance.” I am not sure who said it or where it came from, but the words rang true in my soul. No one really cares about being invited to a meeting or being offered an acceptance into a program. What they really care about is having a sense of belonging and value and feeling deep down that their presence matters in a place.

The Mothers Advocacy Project (MAP) is a unique program designed specifically for single birth mothers whose families are at risk of involvement with the Division of Family and Children Services, due to harsh life experiences and traumatic events. The mothers in our program are given an opportunity to establish independence, autonomy, and stability for themselves and their children through a series of interventions including group and individual psychotherapy, social support, education, and engagement in participatory arts.

All of our mothers are so different from one another. But, diversity is not enough to create true beauty. True beauty comes from within. True beauty is deep. That Is why building lasting relationships with other moms is so powerful.  I mean, weren’t we taught as children not to judge a book by its cover? Did the Harry Potter jelly beans teach us nothing, when we saw two jelly beans that looked the same and yet one was buttered popcorn and one was earwax?

Value is not assigned to our mothers based upon merit or achievement. Dignity is not earned. And family is not questioned. Generosity is not extended with strings attached. All of this is assumed from the moment a family steps in our doors. Too many of these women, if not all of them, have been written off by someone as not worthy of a second chance. Many of them have been labeled “unsuitable” as mothers because they don’t have the socio-economic means to provide all the opportunities assumed to be the standard. But, to us, they all have a chance to break cycles of maltreatment and trauma in their families. We see beyond the exterior shell. We see their hearts, we see their beauty and potential, and we call them into the thriving we know they can achieve. 

Submitted by Chelsea Sabo