“I want to better myself and my life when it comes to my kid. I want to see myself, in five years, in a better situation than where I’m at now,” said Britney, a single mom living in Cincinnati while raising a 6-year-old son and pursuing a bachelor's degree in arts and business management.

“Now that I’m back in college, I want to see myself say that I did it all the way through,” she added. “I want to see that I put forward the effort to something that I want out of my career and my life.”

At age 32, Britney is adventurous, optimistic, and self-sufficient.

“I support everything I do for myself. I do not have family support or family help. I do everything for myself and my son,” she remarked after sharing that the two of them like to explore Cincinnati by frequenting parks, museums, and aquariums. Britney admitted that a majority of her personal time involves catching up on homework, watching TV, and spending time with friends. In fact, when she gets together with her friends, she likes making drinks for them–a passion that’s poured into her ideas of one day opening her own bar and beverage business. 

“I love to create. Anytime there’s a party I’m always the one that’s called to make different drinks. It’s something I’ve had a passion for, and I figure if this is something I do on my fun days I could also offer it to other people,” she said.

Ironically, Britney first connected with UpTogether because a friend offered her a link to join.

“The cash payments were not what caught my eye. It wasn’t about the cash, it was more so about the ways I can help the community by offering my support or opinion about certain things going on in communities. It’s important to me because being a single parent the majority of things I go through I have nobody to talk to about it,” Britney explained. “It’s important for anybody that’s going through something to have a shoulder to lean on and somewhere they can express themselves.” 

All of the funds that Britney received through the Cincinnati UpTogether fund went toward bills and getting things for her son. 

“It’s been helpful for the bills, keeping me up to date. Having leftover money for my son is nice. It’s been a little stretch but it’s helping,” she said while also focusing on the future. “Financially, I’m able to manage and budget better but it’s a lot of places I want to be in five years. My main goal is to graduate from college and get my degree.”