Single Parents Club

It’s not easy being a single parent. So these four decided not to do it alone.

Leigh de Silva, 22, 5 months pregnant single mother to be, realized when the father of her child rejected her upon learning of her pregnancy that she had no support. She came up with an idea. A group for single parents. Mix of social club and support group. So she put an ad out in neighborhood groups and her cities subreddit. “Looking for single parents for friendship and support. Childcare provided!”

Her plan? Connect with existing single parents, let them meet while she handled the kids. She’d make contacts who’d be single parents like here. They’d get their kids watched by her. And she could set up babysitting gig work. It was a way for people who struggle to have time to connect, have a beer, not worry for a few hours, vent, and for kids to make friends.

The parents:

Kassandra 'Kass' Hill, 28, the widow, single mom of one: Kira, 4.

Kass was always a quiet child, studious, nose in books, but in college she wanted to challenge herself to be more social. She joined a sorority and was the nerdier one. She went to a party with their sibling fraternity and met Christopher there. He was so handsome and out of her league she thought it was all fake, but he valued her insightful mind and sharp wit. They married at 23, had Kira at 24, and then he was diagnosed with advanced pancreatic cancer at 26. He died within months of the diagnosis. Since then Kass has retreated once more. Struggling with her job as a Librarian at a middle school, and supplementing with gig work after hours where she can, usually with Kira in the back seat on a Kindle Fire watching videos. She hates being 'that mom' who uses a screen, but can't bring herself to make Kira sit in the back seat without anything while she delivers door dash orders for 6$ tips.

Namphueng (น้ำผึ้ง) ‘Nam’ (น้ำ) Suwannathat (สุวรรณทัต), 25, divorcee, single mom of two: Pirapat ‘Pat’ 6, Kanchana ‘Chana’ 4

Nam grew up the only daughter of Thai immigrants. Her father died when she was 17, her mother moving back to Thailand at 18. Wanting to stay here she entered a semi-arranged marriage with the neighbor boy, Pornsak ‘Sak’ Suwannathat, she grew up next