VISHANNA PHAGOO
Not many people are aware of the existence of the Single Mother’s Association of Trinidad and Tobago.
But president, founder and director Shermaine Wickham-Howe said the association has been working tirelessly to ensure that single-parent families receive the best care and opportunities for many years.
Though the association has been low-key, its work has resonated with corporate TT, which Wickham-Howe said has been offering the association's members support such as work training or support for their children, including financial assistance.
The association is based in Kelly Village, Caroni and has been a registered not-for-profit organisation under the Companies Act since 2017. It was recognised by Parliament's Joint Select Committee on Human Rights, Equality and Diversity in 2019 as the official representative group for single mothers in TT.
Wickham-Howe told Sunday Newsday she decided to form the association after dealing with her own struggles as a single mother of two.
“From the time of his (second child's) birth, the organisation was formed and it was formed because I had to get up and get for myself. I had a small business in St Helena, Events Memory, a photography service. It was doing well and I offered services to the community that no one else was doing at that time back in 2009. Then my shop was robbed, broken into three different times, I was kidnapped and placed in a vehicle trunk, then they took all my equipment.
"But I didn’t give up, I couldn’t, I had to press on.”
Wickham-Howe now works at the Ministry of Works and Transport but hopes to reopen her photography business soon.
She said around the time of those criminal attacks, she also had to help her mother repair her home by getting assistance from various ministries. After seeing how she was able to navigate through the system, people in the community, mostly single mothers, began approaching her about securing grants and she saw the need to form the association.
She said since it was officially recognised, she has been networking with various companies and NGOs and has been able to help thousands of families, whether single-parent or not.
“We also started the Ruth Empowerment Centre, where we house women for three to six months, and various ministries send people to us from Family Court, Counter Trafficking Unit, Witness and Protection Programmes and Family Services. We house these people for a short period of time to get them out of the emergency state to a more comfortable setting.”
Wickham-Howe said the association has more than 600 members and every day they share what they can do for each other.
“We communicate through our WhatsApp group, where we have about 300-plus members...and the association shares edifying programmes and empowering programmes to our mothers. We also have smaller WhatsApp groups that we pulled from the general group,” which she said caters to various needs or passions members may have, such as a prayer group, unemployment group, exercise group and one for entrepreneurs. Wick
