Help for Widows With Children

Widowed parents face multiple challenges once their spouse dies. Aside from likely losing a significant chunk of income for the household, a widowed parent also must perform all the parenting duties alone. A way to help ameliorate the negative aspects of being widowed with children is to find help from sources large and small. The government can help with a variety of programs, and there are other local sources that can help with other aspects that are not monetary.

  1. Margaret E. Iacoi Memorial Foundation for Widowed Mothers

    • The Margaret E. Iacoi Memorial Foundation for Widowed Mothers has been working for 18 years to help widowed mothers with financial support. The foundation's website states that it awards a grant each year to a family that has experienced a premature death of one parent. Occasionally the foundation helps two families in one year, and one year the money was split among three local organizations. Most all of the awards have gone to families in Westerly, R.I. Two of the 18 awards went to non-Rhode Island families and both of those went to Connecticut families.

    YoungWidow.org

    • Emotional support is a sometimes forgotten aspect of recovering from a death in the family. The YoungWidow forum is a place where young widows can connect with other widows and widowers to sort through feelings and get back to a level mental state full of joy and vision to the future.

    Widows Harvest Ministries

    • The Widows Harvest Ministries, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee and with an office in Savannah, Georgia, is a nonprofit organization that is based off following the Biblical verse in James 1:27, that calls to visit the widow in distress. The organization has been in operation since 1987 and aims to help with companionship, legal and financial counseling, assistance paying bills, transportation and home maintenance. Most widows the Widows Harvest Ministries serve are at least 60 years old, but the website states that age is not an issue when it comes to assistance. Most of the widows served also survive on less than $450 a month, endure health problems and live in high-crime areas.

    Social Security

    • If your spouse dies and you still have children in the house, the Social Security Administration has programs to help you financially. Widows and widowers typically must wait until 60, or age 50 if they are disabled, before collecting survivor's benefits. If they have children, however, those benefits begin almost immediately and last until the child is 16. The deceased parent must have worked for 10 years putting money into Social Security, though. You can also get benefits even if the children are stepchildren or adopted. You will get 75 percent of full Social Security benefits if you have children under the age of 16.

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