Jeremiah Program’s Luncheon Highlights Success Stories of Lifting Generations Out of Poverty

The program helps single mothers excel in the workplace and gives their children a start to education

FARGO, N.D. — For thousands of single mothers in the F–M area, making ends meet is a challenge.

The Jeremiah Program held their annual Generation Builders 2×2 luncheon to highlight some of the success stories of lifting generations out of poverty.

Miranda Sprung is a mother of a 13–month–old baby, and she says life before the Jeremiah Program was hard to manage by herself.

“Just toggling things between my child and my work and not being able to support myself 100 percent the way that I wanted to,” she said.

She says her advice for other single mothers is that don’t have to do it alone.

“It’s okay to accept help from other people, it’s okay to need that help and to express your emotions,” she said.

That’s where the Jeremiah Program comes in. The luncheon brought program members, donors and the community together to hear about the challenges of making ends meet and taking care of a child.

“Our goal is to change that and that’s part of why everyone’s here today is to hear what’s happening, what’s new in our program and how they can help,” Coiya Tompkins, development director of the Jeremiah Program, said.

The Jeremiah Program’s new campus on Fiechtner Drive opened last year and houses over a dozen mothers and has on–site child care. Mothers also go through career development and life skills training.

“To have the sisterhood that Jeremiah provides for us I think is crucial to help us achieve all things we’re going through. If you single yourself out and kind of abstain from being part of that group, it really makes things challenging,” Sprung said.

For organizers, seeing the growth of the young mothers is what shows their mission is being accomplished.

“It is really fun to see our moms transition and transform. They come to us sometimes very down on their luck and not really sure where to start and now we have someone giving a keynote address,” Tompkins said.

“I truly cannot put into words how much love I have for our community and knowing they’re here for single moms and helping us get above that poverty line and helping us achieve our dreams,” Sprung said.