ABOUT US
We are so glad you have found us. The Single Mothers' Alliance BC is a grassroots non-profit community building, leadership and advocacy toolkit created and organized by single mothers for single mothers in BC.
The SMA is an alliance of a broad diversity of single mothers. We connect across our unique identities and diverse experiences as single mothers to find common ground, build community, and advocate for change, for ourselves and for our children. We are an incorporated non-profit as of June 2014. We aim to build capacity among single mothers and women to work together towards progressive social change.
The reality for single mothers and their children in BC is dire. One out of every two of us raises our families in poverty. BC's child poverty rate is sky-high. We must stand up for them, and defend their rights. Our children are poor because we are poor. Women's poverty in this province, particularly related to lone-mothering, is abysmal, and we must address it directly, in solidarity with one another, with hope, vision and creativity.
Our Three Point Mandate
To build community among the family class of single mothers.
Creating community works against the disempowering reality of our social isolation, and it is a powerful starting point for social change. Out of the strength of our connectedness rises hope for the vision, will and strategy for change based on our lived experience.
To provide educational opportunities and tools for single mothers to a) gain empowerment, and b) develop leadership skills which strengthens both our individual and collective capacity to participate in public policy-making that impacts our lives, and those of their children.
Strengthening our capacity to ensure our voices and concerns are heard at the policy-making tables is a crucial part of our empowerment as women, single mothers, and citizens.
To advocate for the rights of single mothers and their children to live lives free of poverty and discrimination.
Incisive campaigns sourced and organized from a grassroots alliance of single mothers have a powerful potential to impact public policy in BC. We advocate for systemic change, and the goal of every action we take seeks to end our poverty, inequality, and achieve the full health and well-being of our families.
*****
In sum, SMA builds connectedness among single mothers, provides tools to facilitate dialogue and cultivate leaders, and advocates for a BC where all women and all children, regardless of their family class, develop, thrive and learn to the fullest extent possible. This is our children's right, and we must ensure it is fulfilled.
We partner with anti-poverty and women's and children's rights advocacy organizations, working collectively to eliminate child poverty in BC.
We officially endorse the following campaigns:
$10 A Day Child Care Plan: Community Plan for a Public System of Integrated Early Care and Learning
http://www.cccabc.bc.ca/plan/Community_Plan_ECL.pdf
BC Federation of Labour, Fight for $15 B.C.: http://www.fightfor15bc.ca/
Living Wage for Families Campaign: http://www.livingwageforfamilies.ca/
SMA is a member of the following coalitions:
BC CEDAW Group: a coalition of women's rights advocacy groups reporting to the UN.
First Call: BC Child and Youth Advocacy Coalition: http://www.firstcallbc.org/
BC Poverty Reduction Coalition: http://bcpovertyreduction.ca/.