Are you an unemployed single parent?  Are you underemployed?

Since its inception in 2001, the Single Parent Alliance & Resource Center (SPARC) has worked to ensure economic improvement in the lives of single parents and their families. Its wide variety of programs has had a measurable impact in their lives as well as in the communities in which they reside.  This history of service brought to light that within this population there are specific needs that must be addressed before successful employment can either be secured or maintained. This population requires more than a strong resume and an opportunity to interview.  Additional family services such as parenting classes, child care referrals including after school care, mentoring and job coach services, educational services, financial literacy classes, pre-employment training and counseling are just some of the areas that SPARC addresses. 

Utilizing the village concept, SPARC and the Georgia Department of Labor Gwinnett Career Center have developed a partnership to provide single parents seeking employment with a comprehensive service delivery strategy.  Single parents walking into the Center are enrolled in DOL employment programs and then referred to SPARC’s  Back to Business program for additional services and case management. 

While families headed by single parents are not necessarily doomed for failure, they do require additional assistance and community resources to fill the void left by the missing parent.  Back to Business provides these families with real solutions and offers them a chance to help themselves. SPARC builds individual capacity within the family thereby empowering the community as a whole. Stronger families build stronger communities promoting positive individual, social and community change - one family at a time.

Back to Business addresses a myriad of issues that all single parents face in trying to achieve economic empowerment.  The ability to provide for their family is a concern that is at the heart of single parents.  Often the sole provider for their children, single parents must be equipped to secure and maintain viable employment.  Back to Business focuses on developing the WHOLE person to ensure that not only is viable employment secured and maintained, but the foundation for an overall successful life is laid.

Successful life maintenance for single parents is often based on outside factors that have little to do with experience or skills.  They are burdened with childcare worries, financial concerns, balancing home and professional lives as well as trying to squeeze in time for personal development as well.  These factors, if not dealt with effectively, can often hinder an otherwise talented and professional individual from flourishing.  By providing them with the resources they will need to successfully balance the innumerable tasks, roles and responsibilities they must maintain, they will then have a greater chance of maintaining stability and achieving overall success.

While a large number of job development focus on securing employment with no real attention paid to whether or not the employee is able to successfully maintain it, Back to Business places a great deal of focus on a participant’s ability to maintain whatever success is achieved.  This focus aligns with the belief that “change, not charity” is the solution.  There is a saying that if one is given a fish, one is given a meal.  However, if one is taught to fish, then one can feed him/herself for a lifetime. Back to Business’ mission is to teach and empower single parents “to fish.”