Single mothers are among the fastest growing vulnerable populations nationally, yet are often overlooked in the Jewish community. In 2014, the San Francisco Jewish Women's Fund, a program of the Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund, commissioned a study of single Jewish moms in the Bay Area to better understand their needs. Among the most significant findings, we learned that single moms struggle to find their place in the Jewish community due to several factors:

• The high cost of Jewish life
• Jewish social norms that can favor the two-parent, “traditional” family
• Insufficient programming sensitive to single-parent needs, such as offering childcare, transportation, convenient locations, or scheduling that works for the rhythms of single-parent family life
• Lack of a central source of information pertinent to single moms

Through the study, we learned simple ways our community can better include single moms and their kids, such as:

1. Offer single-parent pricing on membership, event admission, etc. that single moms don’t have to repeatedly negotiate
2. Commit to marketing materials that show the diversity of our community and include single moms in the photos
3. Create a more dignified and simplified scholarship process that may include multiyear offerings or a common application for all activities.
4. Create a centralized source of information pertinent to issues and opportunities for single moms

We imagine many individuals and agencies are dealing with similar concerns. We invite you to join together in raising awareness and partnering to make a change by signing the petition. Please share your ideas or progress on inclusivity for single moms in the comments section.

Thank you