Julissa Garcia lays a blouse flat on the table, smooths it and folds it into a neat rectangle. The shirt is one of hundreds of garments she and her fellow volunteers sorted through last Friday morning, choosing from mounds of donated clothes on a sprawling conference table.
The petite, bubbly Canyon County resident smiles easily when she talks about her volunteer work with Single Mothers Outreach, a local nonprofit that for more than a decade has helped provide struggling single parents like herself with everything from free clothing to college scholarships.
Garcia, 43, said she first heard about the group nearly 10 years ago after a friend introduced her to one of its founders, Debbie Quick. For about two months, Garcia attended support groups at Quick’s home, but stopped going when she could no longer pay for child care for her son Vincent, then 5 years old.
A year ago, the local single mom, who suffers from a congenital hip defect, found herself unemployed and lost in a fog of depression. Looking back fondly on the Single Mothers Outreach support groups she’d attended a decade earlier, Garcia decided to give the group a call.
She’d soon enrolled in free computer classes and began volunteering for its weekly Shop the Closet fundraiser, where each single parent may choose eight clothing items for themselves and for each immediate family member.
The rest is up for sale, helping the nonprofit provide case-management services for its 450 members and connecting them to community resources, with a focus on finding employment and housing, said Jennifer Kennedy, the organization’s programs director.
And while Kennedy said the organization has seen its funding drop slightly since the Great Recession hit, there’s been no shortage of gently used clothing donations to keep Shop the Closet fully stocked.
“All the clothes I’m wearing are from Single Mothers (Outreach),” said fellow volunteer Monica Castaneda, gesturing to her black cargo pants and pale blue button-up.
Garcia said she also enjoys shopping the organization’s closet — both for herself and her son. But more importantly, she said, joining Single Mothers Outreach has helped her emerge from depression and find her place in the community.
“Before, I didn’t know where I belonged. But then I came in here, and it was like, I was able to help,” Garcia said, her face lighting up.
Recalling the different events the organization has thrown — child care included — for its single parents over the past year, Garcia’s eyes filled with tears.
“As a single mom, I can’t always afford to go out with my son, so to have someone say, ‘This is for you,’ and to have people care so much. ... We feel isolated sometimes, but in here, it doesn’t feel that way.”
Shop the Closet sales are held every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at 26881 Ruether Ave. in Santa Clarita.
Mother's Day offers the opportunity to remind moms how special they are and how much we appreciate all they do. In honor of Mother's Day, on Friday May 6, ORLY International gave 23 moms from Single Mothers Outreach a well-deserved day of pampering. The moms visited ORLY headquarters in Van Nuys, where each attendee enjoyed a continental breakfast hosted in the studio lounge and received a manicure in OLRY’s in-house spa. The day of relaxation also included a visit from ORLY President Jeff Pink. Every mom walked away with a bag filled with a mix of top ORLY and SpaRitual products and an $89.00 gift card for Kohl’s.
Event attendees expressed heartfelt gratitude, as many had not experienced a guilt-free day of pampering in quite some time. ORLY employees also had a deep appreciation for the event as an opportunity to share their talents with a deserving group of moms.
“We need to live a life that leads, always expanding beyond meeting our own needs and extending our skills to benefit those who are less fortunate. At ORLY we are working on all levels, from the warehouse up to President and CEO Jeff Pink, to develop meaningful programs that benefit people in our community,” said event organizer and Customer Care Manager Orlando Flores.
Single Mothers Outreach was founded in 1995 as a support and resource for single mothers struggling through the effects of divorce or the death of a spouse. Since then, over 1,700 families have been served.
The ORLY team had just begun to create a Mother’s Day event when they discovered Single Mothers Outreach. ORLY employees jumped at the chance to plan an event that would benefit single moms. Numerous employees took an active role in making the event a reality by donating money for the gift cards, donating their time to execute the gathering or covering for other employees while they participated in the event during the workday. ORLY plans to continue to work with Single Mothers Outreach on future events and initiatives
Christmas came early this year for Ruth Tofighi-Mendoza.
The single mother of two teenaged boys was delighted to receive a brand new roof on Dec. 13 for her Saugus home, donated by Great Way Roofing, which has locations in Newhall and Camarillo.
She had been patching her dilapidated roof for years, with little success.Tofighi-Mendoza was growing increasingly concerned about how her home would fare with a forecasted season of heavy rain set to begin within the next day.
Now, she no longer has to worry.
“It’s unbelievable for me and the kids,” Tofighi-Mendoza said as her voice choked with emotion and she wiped back tears of happiness. “We’ve had really bad luck, and this experience makes me very thankful,” the grateful mother continued
Tofighi-Mendoza, a widow, is one of 450 clients from Single Mothers Outreach, a nonprofit organization that serves single parents in the Santa Clarita Valley by providing resources, referrals, training, food and clothing.
When Great Way Roofing was looking for a family to donate a new roof to, they were led to Single Mothers Outreach by the office of Assemblyman Cameron Smyth, R-Santa Clarita, who was on hand to watch as the new roof was being placed.
“There are so many groups in the Santa Clarita Valley, but we’ve had a relationship with Single Mothers Outreach for several years and we know they do a great job of finding families that need assistance,” Smyth said.
Smyth was impressed by Great Way Roofing’s generosity. “When you know businesses are struggling because of the economy and yet they’re still willing to help families, that speaks volumes about them personally. It really shows the spirit of this community,” Smyth said.
Rod Menzel, founder and chief executive officer of Great Way Roofing, was raised by a single mother, so it was a natural fit.
“I know how hard they work and how tough it can be, especially right now,” Menzel said. “This is a great cause. It’s neat to see someone so excited and appreciative.”
The value of the roof was approximately $8,000, according Menzel. Shingles were donated by H & R Roofing Supply, and Honeycut Roof Co. tore down the existing roof.
“Because everyone gave a little, we were able to achieve a lot,” Menzel said.
Since most of their clientele live in apartments, Tofighi-Mendoza was the top contender for the donation, according to DaAnne Smith, executive director of Single Mothers Outreach.
“Hers was in the worst shape. Ruth is the one we really wanted to help,” Smith said. “She’s just such a hard-working, humble person.”
One mother’s story.
Last October, Tofighi-Mendoza, who was already divorced, was hit with a double whammy when her former spouse died of a heart attack, leaving the homemaker with sole responsibility for their two sons Alan, 19, and David, 15.
“We weren’t expecting it. No one does,” said Tofighi-Mendoza, a full-time student at College of the Canyons. “It was tough before, but it’s not the same as being alone. We were still close.”
Not to mention the financial impact, as Smith illustrated.
“Her income is now basically survivor’s benefits,” Smith said. “When you go from a two-income home to a one-income home, with kids, it’s absolutely devastating. A lot of parents do not have the luxury of family to lean on. We become their family.”
Tofighi-Mendoza had been coming to Single Mothers Outreach since 2006, attending seminars, getting clothes for her sons, and becoming actively involved in any way she could.
“They always say you have any angel watching over you. Single Mothers Outreach has helped me more than I can ever say,” Tofighi-Mendoza said. “You know there are good people around, but I didn’t know where to find them before.”
Beyond the immediate resources, providing support and connection is a vital role of Single Mothers Outreach, Smith said.
“At first, many of our clients are in crisis. They’re newly divorced, unemployed or fleeing an abuser,” Smith said. “But it’s not just financial help we provide. This is a community for single moms. We’re a resource for everyone, even if it’s just emotionally.”
That means single dads, too. Single Mothers Outreach has four male clients at the moment, and its overall waiting list is growing ever longer as demand increases.
“We can’t keep up with the demand,” Smith said. “I’ve been on a crusade to educate the Santa Clarita Valley that we have more than 1,600 single-parent families here. That’s based on a 2000 census, so we know there’s more.”
The surprise
A few days before Great Way Roofing arrived to her home, Tofighi-Mendoza was told the company would just be doing a much-needed patch over her garage, which had leaked in various places throughout the years.
Source: The Signal