“A single mom, struggling to survive,
wonders if anyone cares if her family lives or dies.
She’s working two jobs just to pay her rent.
She is exhausted by the end of the workday.
Yet she comes home to fix dinner,
bathe children, and clean house before she collapses into bed.
Her needs are hard to spot,
because she doesn’t want anyone to know how needy she is” 
Brenda Armstrong- Mercy Tree Ministries

The Fresh Start for Single Mothers And Their Children
Community Outreach Mission Project
is a program which welcomes single mothers from all races, income levels and denominations, divorced, never married, widowed and grandmothers raising grandchildren alone.  In the last four years that the Fresh Start program has been running we have served over 250 women and over 381 children.  

The demand for the program required that it be expanded. The program curriculum is now available on a national level for any church or organization to run.We currently have locations in the West End, Chesterfield, 3 Lakeside, Richmond City Fairfield Court, Ashland and locations in Florida! We have had requests for our Fresh Start curriculum from all over the country, and international requests from Canada, Kenya East Africa and the Philippines.

Fresh Start is a faith-based eight week positive life advancement program consisting of inspirational and educational components with assigned family encouragers, dinner, small group discussion time, childcare, teen mentoring and tutoring.
There is never any charge for our program participants. We have weekly expert guest speakers that cover important educational topics such as budgeting and credit, employment, interview and resume strategies, stress management, parenting on your own, car care, domestic violence awareness and child protection, beauty out of ashes and starting a relationship with God.

Visual demonstrations such as the “Fresh Start Back-Pack of Life” and the “Fresh Start Balloon Release to God” are used to teach and emphasize the importance of forgiveness and the power of prayer. There is also a special children’s curriculum where the needs of children from fatherless homes are addressed, and two Fresh Start graduate phases. Phase Two “Necessary Ingredients” focuses on the fruits of the Holy Spirit and how we can incorporate them in our daily lives and Phase Three is a single mothers Bible study.

B.E.T.H.E.L. Ministries “Believing, Exceeding Through Hope Empowerment and Love.” is the nonprofit organization that supports and promotes the Fresh Start Community Outreach Project.

Through our Emergency Fund we assist Fresh Start participating families with utility bills, school supplies, medical and dental bills, automobile repairs, and past due rents while distributing thousands of dollars of donated household goods, baby items and clothing to our families.

We also connect our families to vital community resources and encourage them to participate in other existing human services programs in their area.

Many of our families have faced horrible disappointments, tragedies and discouragements…we want to be a soft place for them to land in their time of need. Restoring families, halting generational failures and helping women attain and maintain self-sufficiency is our goal.

This project is truly a community effort, we are facilitated completely by volunteers.  There is no paid staff and most of our resources are donated by local community supporters.
We are always seeking Financial Sponsors, Businesses & Restaurant Sponsors,Churches, Samaritans, Organizations To Do Fundraisers and Volunteers to support this important community outreach endeavor.  

Fresh Start Single Mother Personal Testimony
When I first started I tried to do it all on my own. I thought that I was all alone.  Then I met women that had stories like me.  They have let me know it was OK to ask for help.  That is was OK to be afraid.  They helped me a lot with furnishings for my home and contacts that will help me further along in my life. I know that will keep in touch with the new friends that I have made.  I also love the fact they talked about God and how you are never alone as long as you love Him.  I just can’t say enough about the program, I am so grateful that I came. Linda J.

B.E.T.H.E.L. Ministries is a 501 (c )3 nonprofit organization all donations are tax deductible.
For more information on how you can be a part of this life changing ministry and our current needs list: www.whatsnextfreshstart.org/ Sylviasa@verizon.net
http://www.bethelcares.org Stewart 804-364-0460 National Coordinator / Executive Director