Program helping single mothers and their children to succeed and dream again

CNN/Stylemagazine.com Newswire | 4/29/2019, 1:08 p.m.

By Gurvir Dhindsa

Cherokee County, GA (WGCL ) -- A Cherokee County organization will hold a celebration on Monday as they continue to help single mothers and their children succeed.

The Dream Again Banquet will take place at 7:30 p.m. on Monday at the Wheeler House in Ball Ground. The Wheeler House is located on Gilmer Ferry Road.

CBS46’s Gurvir Dhindsa spoke with one of those women who turned from drop out to a college graduate, thanks to Serenade Heights.

Amber Jones, 26, is a single mom who beat the odds.

Three years after dropping out of Kennesaw State, she's just weeks away from getting her degree.

“I'm thinking ahead and I'm excited to see what the future holds,” said Jones.

At one time. The future looked bleak. Jones was facing homelessness, struggling in a minimum wage job and caring for her son Trenton.

“I was trying to make means out of nothing and because of that, we had to get every type of assistance necessary because I couldn't afford to put food on the table. And pay $700 for the rent,” Jones told CBS46.

Then she met Nancy Tucker.

Tucker runs Serenade Heights, a nonprofit organization that provides discounted housing, mentorship and parenting classes to single moms.

“We've seen about 50-some lives change,” Tucker told CBS46. “It's been a miraculous thing.”

Tucker became a single mom after her husband died in 1997 but found she had it easier than most.

“Not everyone was blessed and fortunate as I had been. Especially those who had been abandoned by divorce or found themselves pregnant,” continued Tucker.

Tucker says Serenade Heights is more than just providing a roof over a someone's head.

“One of our biggest goals is to change the cycle of poverty in these ladies’ lives. So many of these ladies, even if they're suddenly found into this homeless situation, their children are watching. We want to change what they're seeing.”

Serenade also offers bi-weekly parenting classes that are open to the public. Tucker says the moms learn how to set goals and the importance of self-care.

“A lot of our moms have not been to a doctor since their last child was born. They take care of their kid's health but they don't take care of themselves.

Jones recently started working as a manufacturing associate. The job offers a steady schedule that allows more time for Trenton. She also started her own creative bible study ministry.