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From YouTube: From City Hall - Ward 2
Description
Ward 2 Councilman Ed Shadid learns about a support organization for single parents from Rhonda Thomas, the founder and Executive Director of Support for Single Parents.
http://supportforsingleparents.org
A
Hi
I'm
councilman,
ed
Shadid,
and
welcome
to
City
Hall
I
have
with
us
today:
Rhonda
Thomas
who's,
the
executive
director
of
the
single
parent
support
network.
We
want
to
talk
today
about
a
very
important
topic
and
that's
single
parenting.
Rhonda
Thomas,
you
have
a
unique
organization
which
addresses
I,
don't
I,
don't
think
people
really
realize
how
common
single
parenting
is.
We
think
of
it
as
kind
of
an
anomaly
when
really
a
third
of
all
children
in
the
state
of
Oklahoma
are
raised
by
single
parents.
That.
B
Is
correct,
I
think
for
most
people
really
don't
understand
the
scope
of
Singapore
n'ton.
You
know
we
have
single
single,
moms
and
single
dads.
We
also
have
single
grandparents.
We
have
adoptive
parents
or
foster
parents
who
are
raising
children
on
their
own.
We
have
those
who
have
chosen
surrogacy,
rape,
survivors,
we've
got
parents
whose
husbands,
a
TDY
they
gone
overseas,
serving
in
the
military
and
they're
here
doing
it
solo.
B
B
B
That
you've
got
to
include
that
as
well,
and
we
do
have
one
coming
up
here
on
May
16
for
our
military
Queens,
and
then
we
are
in
the
process
pulling
together
an
actual
king
for
a
day,
and
it's
just
a
way
to
draw
in
single
parents
who
are
usually
isolated,
a
main
program.
What
I
call
the
bread
and
butter
of
what
we
do
is
our
restart
program
and
that
helps
parents
basically
start
over
in
this
whole
process.
It
covers
the
a-to-z
of
single
parenting.
B
So
what
we
found
with
the
average
child
that's
being
raised
in
a
home
with
a
single
parent
is
that
if
we
don't
have
a
parent
that
is
thriving
because
there
are
three
phases
that
single
parents
go
through,
then
it's
really
difficult
for
that
child
to
also
thrive.
And
so
we
found
that
the
average
single
parent
start
off
in
a
scenario
where
they're
drowning
that's
phase,
one.
No
parent
actually
plans
to
be
in
that
situation.
B
Sometimes
things
just
happen,
and
so
our
biggest
challenge
is
making
sure
that
the
single
parent
does
not
go
down
along
with
their
kids
right
and
then
the
other
phase
is
basically
that
emerging
phase.
So
single
parents
are
beginning
to
get
some
of
the
nuggets
that
they
need
to
successfully
raise
their
children
and
they
emerging
out
of
that
drowning
phase.
And
then
the
third
phase
is
basically
the
thriving
phase
where
you
know
financially:
disability
in
the
home.
B
Emotionally
there's
stability
in
the
home
and
there
are
more
co
parenting
efforts
between
the
parents
as
well
in
terms
of
successfully
raising
the
kids.
But
we've
found
that
kids
that
continue
in
that
state
or
that
phase
of
drowning
basically
end
up
in
the
statistics
that
we
see
in
our
prisons.
The
negative
statistics
for
kids
are
committing
crime,
and
so
our
goal
is
to
turn
that
around
so
there's.
A
B
B
A
A
B
There
you
know,
there's
this
taking
sides
putting
kids
in
the
middle
way.
They
have
to
take
sides
pick
a
parent
is
the
most
difficult
and
challenging
thing
for
a
child
to
even
reconcile,
and
so
we've
seen
the
effects
of
those
negatives
and
we've
also
seen
the
effects
of
positive
co-parenting
and
parents
working
together
to
reduce
that
conflict
and
create
an
environment
where
that
child
can
grow
up
in
a
healthy
environment.
Great.
A
B
B
So
what
we
we
are
working
on
right
now
is
again
what
I
call
a
wraparound
approach.
Everything
we
do
is
about
the
family,
it's
not
just
about
the
child
or
just
about
the
parent.
It's
about
the
family
and
the
elements
that
are
going
to
be
required
to
you
know
have
a
successful
home,
and
so
just
so
you
know,
I
know
with
House
bill
20
to
49.
B
It
now
requires
that
parents
do
those
divorce
classes
which
we're
also
offering
a
mature
if
you're
familiar
with
that
or
not,
but
we're
also
offering
that,
but
we're
offering
that
more,
so,
not
just
as
a
class
but
as
a
program.
It
wrapped
around
an
hour
program
so
that
parents
can
come
and
do
those
things
that
are
required
to
you
know
suffice
the
the
House
bill,
but
also
we
want
to
draw
them
into
co
parenting
skills
continual
continually
so
that
there
is
successful
with
this
problem.
This
process
Rhonda.
A
B
Seeing
more
and
more
single
dads
I
think
we
get
on
a
weekly
basis,
an
average
of
two
to
three
that
may
be
calling
our
office,
so
that
definitely
is
a
growing
number
and
I
think
the
challenges
for
that
are
a
little
a
little
bit
more
unique
than
women,
certainly
because
it's
not
a
natural
fit.
It's
not
a
natural
thing
that
we
see
even
in
their
workplace
is
not
natural.
That
makes
any
sense,
so
the
average
dad
who
has
a
sick
child
asking
for
some
time
off
is
is
not
a
normal
thing
for
your
employer.
A
B
A
A
For
for
men
that
may
find
themselves
isolated
as
single
fathers
and
and
women
as
well,
is
there
a
way
that
you
can
get
them
in
touch
with
each
other?
Is
there
a
way
that,
if
somebody
felt
isolated,
they
might
be
able
to
reach
out
to
you
and
and
be
put
in
contact
with
others,
who've
been
there
or
who
might
have
ideas
of
how
to
deal
with
a
particular
problem?
Absolutely.
B
So
right
now
we
have
chapters
in
Mustang
oklahoma
in
midwest
city
and
in
North,
Oklahoma
City
and
looking
at
setting
one
up
on
the
south
side
so
that
you
can
plug
in
and
we
meet
on
a
weekly
basis
for
support.
We
have
support
groups
and
mentorship
groups
that
meet
every
week,
so
you
can
tie
in
there
by
going
to
support
for
single
parents
org
and
checking
it
out
on
our
events
page.