Mom to Madre

A year ago this month, in October 2009, Mom to Madre became a California nonprofit corporation for the public benefit. That same month we began offering our services as volunteer speakers to groups that assist low-income families.

Mom to Madre invited talented friends to join as volunteers, including women who are native Spanish speakers. An outstanding Board of Directors, talented Advisory Council, and a passionate group of volunteers were enlisted to speak, hold book drives, and help Mom to Madre embark upon this all-volunteer effort. We received our tax exemption status as a 501(c) (3) nonprofit corporation in March 2010. We are supported by donations.

Mom to Madre is led by professionals who have raised kids to become college graduates, graduate students, and professionals in their own fields. With their personal perspective on psychology, child development, parenting, education, family, immigration, ESL and bilingual children, they are invaluable as resources and speakers. We all share the passion to reach out to young moms who are challenged by poverty, lack of education, and language barriers.

Since October of last year, we have spoken to 26 groups, and more than 300 parents and educators about the importance of loving parenting, reading, school participation, cultural literacy, nature, and related early education topics. We have been asked to speak on finances, nutrition, and parenting adolescents. We always bring books, literacy material, and bilingual parent education handouts, including our bookmarks with reading tips in English and Spanish. We have donated hundreds of books to kids, families, and organizations, most of which had been donated to us through book drives and from individuals.

During our first year we have shared our passionate message: “Parents are their children’s most important teachers and are responsible for their children’s education.” We speak in English and Spanish to young parents and grandparents raising children. Our first parent meeting, a young mother said, “I don’t know anything.” This wasn’t said with intensity, just a matter of fact statement. She then said that her mother had come to the U.S. from Mexico twenty years ago and had never learned English. This is a common theme and highlights the importance of what we do. By providing concrete information to these young families we are giving them the tools to break the cycle of poverty, language barriers and illiteracy.

Support from the community is growing everyday. This week we received two e-mails on the same day from two authors of children’s literature who we met at the Orange County Children’s Literature Festival this month. Each author is sending Mom to Madre new copies of their books, giving us 50 new books to hand out to deserving moms. We just received 53 beautiful books for young children from a book drive held by a new volunteer and speaker, who requested books from her college alumni group. Gently used books keep coming in.

Each time we have the honor of meeting with parents, someone says something that moves us and touches our hearts. That is all the reinforcement we need to stay eager to meet with the next group. This week, while I was holding a one-month-old baby of a twenty-one-year-old mom (who also had a five-year-old and a 3-year-old), the young mother asked how she could find a scholarship for college. She told us about her nearly completed A.A. degree and her plans to move to the university. She was full of life, dynamic and confident. It was easy to see her as a potential “mover and shaker.” We felt privileged to meet this mom who is a great bet for beating the odds.

Mom to Madre’s volunteers find inspiration in meeting so many young moms who are good-natured, trying to improve their lives, and eager to help their children succeed in school. Sharing what we know with this younger generation as “moms as mentors,” is a great pleasure and a special source of pride for all who contribute.

Please support our all-volunteer effort by donating to our Year End Campaign. Mom to Madre is a California nonprofit corporation, tax exempt under Internal Revenue Code, Section 501(c)(3); EIN 27-1299878. We accept both financial and in-kind donations with gratitude. Your donations are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

By Connie Goldin, MA, MFT ©2010, Mom to Madre