The force that drives Brittany forward every day is her desire to provide better opportunities for her children than she had growing up. “I think that being a mom is the most rewarding thing that you can do because you’re shaping these young people to be the next generation,” Brittany says.

Despite caring for three children between the ages of two and six, Brittany has spent the last half-decade obtaining her bachelor’s degree so that she can give her children a stable foundation. Now, thriving as a business professional today, Brittany remembers a time when the future of her family was uncertain.

Following a divorce, Brittany’s ex-husband stopped paying for their daughter’s child care. Brittany suddenly found herself trying to resolve how to get her now oldest daughter into affordable, quality child care so that she could go to school and work during the day.

“We ended up going through a huge custody thing and he stopped paying for child care. I felt helpless. That was the only thing he had to pay for. I was upset, crying and frustrated because child care is not cheap.”

That’s when she called United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County’s 2-1-1 Helpline. She told the United Way Call Specialists about her struggle to find quality, affordable child care.

They connected her with reputable child care centers which led her to the child care center she still uses today. Now with three children ages two, four and six, Brittany was confident her children were in nurturing environment that would help them achieve their development needs while she pursued her degree.

Once she was able to obtain quality, affordable child care for her first child, Brittany balanced work and college. She did this so that she could have their family achieve economic mobility and give her children a better foundation for the future.

“How do you expect a single mom or a single dad to advance their career or go to school if they don’t have affordable child care? They can’t!”

When she was a child, Brittany had to deal with an alcoholic father. This made life very difficult for her. When she had her children, Brittany swore she would give them more than she had at their age. That’s why access to affordable, quality child care and getting her degree was important to her.

“Growing up, I didn’t have a lot,” Brittany says. “My father was an alcoholic and my mom stayed at home but she never stood up for us. They never went to any school events.”

“And so I want to be involved with my kids and I want them to go to places that are going to make them a better person.”

United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County not only connects 2-1-1 callers with invaluable community resources like how it helped Brittany, it invests in programs that prepare young children for life.

United Way’s Ready Children Impact Area supports services that provide access to quality child care and ensure kinder readiness. United Way’s goal is to help all children in San Antonio grow up in safe, stable and nurturing environments that let them become curious learners as they grow.

Without the quality, affordable child care that Brittany found through 2-1-1 she says she wouldn’t have graduated college. “I wouldn’t be in the position that I am. They have been supportive of everything that I’ve ever done. With the help of 2-1-1, I found quality child care that was affordable and that I could trust.”

Watch Brittany’s story on our YouTube playlist.