Scott Murray, of the Scott Murray Scholarship Foundation and Murray Media joins forces with Rhiannon Graham, Miss Capital City and a social work graduate student, who shares her platform of supporting single families, stemming from her upbringing in a single-parent household and Stacie Martin, founder of Single Parent Advocate, highlights their 15-year mission to help families. Jelesa Warren, a single mother and project manager, discusses her journey and the importance of self-awareness, commitment, and community support. The conversation emphasizes the significance of resources, dreaming, and surrounding oneself with positive influences to navigate the complexities of single parenthood.

They recommend single families pursue action items such as:

• Cultivating a support system and community to help navigate the challenges of single parenthood.
• Committing to being present and engaged with your children, while also acknowledging your own limitations as a single parent.
• Keeping dreams alive and pursuing their goals, and to utilize available resources and scholarships to support their children's education.
• Prioritizing their children, even if they struggle to find balance for themselves.
• Surrounding oneself with positive role models and communities that can help single parents find the resources they need.

Support the show

To connect with Scott Murray, email him at scott@murraymedia.net

To connect with Stacie Martin, email her at smartin@singleparentadvocate.org. You can follow Single Parent Advocate on Facebook and join their community.

To connect with Rhiannon Graham, email her at rhigraham4@gmail.com

Scott Murray, Rhiannon Graham, and Stacie Martin discuss the challenges and successes of single-parent families. Rhiannon, a 23-year-old social work graduate, founded "Single But Not Alone" to advocate for single-parent families, inspired by her mother's sacrifices.

Stacie, a mother and founder of Single Parent Advocate, emphasizes the importance of self-care, hard work, and community support. They highlight that over 50% of marriages end in divorce, affecting many families. The conversation underscores the need for positive role models, self-care, and community support to help single parents and their children succeed.

Tune In and hear what Rhiannon, Scott, and Stacie have learned over the years in serving and supporting parents and children.

Rhiannon discusses her Single But Not Alone message workbook for Single Parent Children and Stacie discusses her SUCCESSFUL Single Parenting message workbook. Scott also shares his insights as he shares with adults and children regarding Leadership America and how individuals and families can be positive and productive.

Support the show

To connect with Scott Murray, email him at scott@murraymedia.net

To connect with Stacie Martin, email her at smartin@singleparentadvocate.org. You can follow Single Parent Advocate on Facebook and join their community.

To connect with Rhiannon Graham, email her at rhigraham4@gmail.com

Rhiannon Graham, Miss Capital City Illinois, and her mother Cindy discussed their experiences as a single parent family. Cindy, a government employee and bartender, shared her struggles with finances, time management, and providing for Rhiannon. Rhiannon highlighted her mother's dedication, which inspired her to pursue a graduate degree in social work and advocate for single parents. They emphasized the importance of community support and creative solutions for financial and time management challenges. Cindy's sacrifices and Rhiannon's achievements underscored the resilience and love within their family, reinforcing the theme of the podcast, "Because They Matter."

We have a meaningful discussion with Rhiannon's mom, Cindy. Tune in as she shares her 20 year journey raising her amazing daughter. Truly, they have succeeded together as a team of two where the main goal was to raise an amazing daughter and give her the best life possible with no regrets.

Cindy shares about multiple factors from finances, where she had to cut corners, work multiple jobs, and ensure her daughter would be well rounded. She digs into time management, playing multiple roles, and putting parenting first rather than personal achievements and/or career interests.

She is now proud of her daughter's love for children, her heart of gold and how she always loves to help others. She also loves Rhiannon's willingness to try new things and her go getter spirit.

Support the show

To connect with Scott Murray, email him at scott@murraymedia.net

To connect with Stacie Martin, email her at smartin@singleparentadvocate.org. You can follow Single Parent Advocate on Facebook and join their community.

To connect with Rhiannon Graham, email her at rhigraham4@gmail.com

In this episode, Scott Murray takes his turn and shares more about his background and perspectives. He shares how important it is to him to have positive impact in the community and why he is so passionate about making the world a better place for our children.

To learn more about Scott and his professional achievements follow this link: https://www.murraymedia.net/scott-murray/

Support the show

To connect with Scott Murray, email him at scott@murraymedia.net

To connect with Stacie Martin, email her at smartin@singleparentadvocate.org. You can follow Single Parent Advocate on Facebook and join their community.

To connect with Rhiannon Graham, email her at rhigraham4@gmail.com

Tune in as we dig into Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow - learning to like ourselves, putting down pain, and taking things one day at a time. How we can turn our loss into love, worry into work, and sorrow into something better!

Don't waste the moment. Never Give Up. And learn to like ourselves in the face of difficult times. Above all else:

1. Love when love is not what you have received.
2. Help others as you help yourself.
3. Leave a positive, productive legacy for your children and community.

In this episode, we look at parts of Stacie's individual background, her career, and her community service efforts on behalf of families like her own. While we don't cover everything about her family, we share about her individual girlhood, motherhood, and some of her life lessons and legacies in hopes that one of our journeys may help someone else, or even help someone not feel alone on this journey we call life.

Support the show

To connect with Scott Murray, email him at scott@murraymedia.net

To connect with Stacie Martin, email her at smartin@singleparentadvocate.org. You can follow Single Parent Advocate on Facebook and join their community.

To connect with Rhiannon Graham, email her at rhigraham4@gmail.com

Even though we are not in the Christmas season, we received so much great response from this show that we decided to do an encore edition, since making a positive difference in the lives of families is an everyday commitment.

It matters not what time of year it is, it is always time to give thanks to all of those who support single parent children - especially now as school lets out.

Tune in as Rhiannon shares about her own mother's sacrifices contributing to her success as Miss Capital City 2024, and Scott and Stacie lean in with their own life lessons learned around the fact that you are not broken - and you do not need a new you.

Parents keeping their children's best interest at heart resist comparing themselves to others and ensure they help their children achieve mental and physical health in an ever changing life dynamic.

Support the show

To connect with Scott Murray, email him at scott@murraymedia.net

To connect with Stacie Martin, email her at smartin@singleparentadvocate.org. You can follow Single Parent Advocate on Facebook and join their community.

To connect with Rhiannon Graham, email her at rhigraham4@gmail.com

Welcome to "Because They Matter," a podcast dedicated to children and parenting. Our mission is to contribute to the well-being of families by sharing insights from three unique perspectives across three generations.

We are three generations. Three perspectives. Three go-givers.

Join us as we explore valuable lessons learned and leveraged for the benefit of others. Along the way, you'll meet some of our friends who also want to share their stories and insights, all with the hope of making life better for someone else. Tune in to our first episode and embark on this journey with us!

Support the show

To connect with Scott Murray, email him at scott@murraymedia.net

To connect with Stacie Martin, email her at smartin@singleparentadvocate.org. You can follow Single Parent Advocate on Facebook and join their community.

To connect with Rhiannon Graham, email her at rhigraham4@gmail.com