How Phillips Charitable Organizations Helps Single Parents into Safe Housing
Good parenting is what makes the world go round. At the same time, however, we live in a world where fewer and fewer parents are able to stay at home with the children, needing to work as many hours as possible just to make ends meet, and that is in a two-parent household. Unfortunately, the statistics on single parenthood don’t lie, with 40% of children being born to unwed parents, and 54% of African American children living in single parent households.
Raising a child as a single parent is even harder than with two parents. Not only does this place them under sometimes overwhelming financial stress, they also have to cope with the emotional strain that comes with it. Luckily, however, there are organizations out there that are aware of this and are trying to improve it.
photo Frerieke from The Hague, The Netherlands via wikimedia commons
Phillips Charitable Organizations
Charles Phillips is the current CEO of Infor, former President of Oracle, and sits on the White House’s President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board. In addition to his role as CEO of Infor, Phillips and his wife founded Phillips Charitable Organizations (PCO). This philanthropic organization, they help single parents – mothers and fathers – cope with the financial stresses they are facing. While there is little they can do to alleviate the emotional stress, they believe that, by donating in some way to the finances of these parents, they will create a happier and therefore less stressful environment for both themselves and their children.
The Amber Oliphant Example
One single parent that PCO was able to help is Amber Oliphant, a single mother of three. They lived in a family member-owned property, but she was informed that she had 30 days to move out. Unfortunately, she was not able to save enough for an apartment, having just 30 days, and as she had three children with her, she found it impossible to find somewhere else to stay. She was rightly worried about having to move herself and her children into a shelter.
PCO was able to step in, however, providing Amber Oliphant with a grant that would ensure that she would be able to find herself and her children a safe, secure, apartment that they will be able to call home. Amber also had significant financial difficulties, as her salary was not sufficient to make ends meet, meaning she had quite serious debt. With the grant offered by PCO, she has been able to lift them out of default, thereby ensuring her debt is not growing on account of mounting interest and late fees. Her plan is to eventually return to school and obtain a degree in accounting.
Charles and Karen Phillips’ PCO exists to give people real, fast support when needed. Considering the important roles Charles Phillips plays within Infor and the White House, it is surprising that he is also able to engage in such strong philanthropic work. However, the support of his wife, and seeing the excellent results of their work, makes it all worthwhile.
Guest Author: Lolita Di
