• Bulgaria

Do you know that single parenting is becoming an increasingly big problem and affects more and more people? Do you know that single parents in the EU are 15 % of the total number of families and over 90 % of single parents are women? On EU level less than half of them are threatened by falling into poverty or social exclusion. And do you know that in Bulgaria there are 360 000 single moms, 72 % out of whom are below the poverty threshold and 80 % are forced to look after their children completely alone. They are the only source of income in their families and lack of employment or practicing low-paid jobs is the main prerequisite for children to fall into child poverty.

To raise your kid(s) alone is not a failure, it is a sign of will and strong spirit, because looking after and educating a child is a huge responsibility. To take such responsibility alone on your fragile shoulders is surely much more a sign of courage and strength. Therefore, we consider single moms as super moms and instead of being pitied, it is important that they are supported in all possible ways.

These super moms do not need alms and one-time help but sustainable support for their future and the future of their children. Therefore, Bulgarian Fund for Women is investing in the professional development of women who are raising their kids alone by providing them with scholarships for completing a course for a qualification and/or acquiring job skills.

So far, we have supported 35 super-moms in their journey of change – all of them successfully completed their courses in foreign language, graphic design, cosmetics, manicure, restaurant management, Word etc. All participants are single parents, at risk of poverty and survivors of domestic violence who know in what direction they want to develop, have the motivation to learn and upgrade their skills – they are carefully selected by our partners from several crisis centers across the country.

Below you could find the stories of some of the super-moms:

• Vyara (Faith)*
• Nadezhda (Hope)*
• Lubov (Love)*
• Maya*

We started the initiative in the begging of 2018 in collaboration with three crisis centers – “Gender Alternatives” Foundation in Plovdiv, “Animus Association” Foundation in Sofia and the “PULS” Foundation in Pernik. Since mid-2019, two more organizations have joined – “Mission Wings” Foundation in Stara Zagora and “Center Dynamics” Association in Rousse – in such way we can reach single mothers from 5 different regions of the country.

Ways in which you could support the cause:
>>  by donating in order to support more single super moms to gain the necessary professional qualification to find a job with decent salary
>> by becoming our partner in finding employment for the mothers who have successfully completed their course
>> by supporting us in the promotion of the campaign