I'm going to be a senior in HS this fall (class of 05 baby!!!)

However this past year has been a major change for me. At the beginning of my junior year, my best friend told me that she was pregnant. She immediately married the father of her child, whom she had only known for 3 months. She wanted to do the right thing--take responsibility for her actions, be a mature adult, etc...

Well to make a long story short, as we are about to embark on our last year of high school (she didn't drop out-- she is determined to get her HS diploma), I am extremely frustrated at the lack of opportunity she feels the future holds for her. She is currently in poverty, and I really believe that unless she pursues higher education, she may never be able to earn enough money to support her daughter and herself. <The issue with the child's father is a whole other issue-- he is irresponsible with his money and can barely hold down a job.>

Anyways, I want to fight poverty. haha, after that long intro, comes my purpose in posting this. If you want welfare dependency to end, give people the resources to get out of poverty. I'm thinking about trying to start a fund to raise money for people who want to try to make something of their lives, besides just work-- they want to gain the knowledge and skills necessary to have a meaningful career, and independence.

I would mainly want to help single mothers go to college, so that they don't feel so completely hopeless. I have many more specific ideas on how it might be able to work.

What do you all think?

well, theres a few organizations out there to help people in poverty get further along. like dress for sucess. but if you want to start a real non-profit i think that you should go to a parent organization for guidance like unitedway, or voulenteers of america if you have that where you live. you could start out by doing help groups or whatnot at your ymca or church, jcc or whatnot. just go to a voulenteer organization for guidance. i can prob help you more, my moms worked with a bunch of non-profits and such. IM me if you want -moshey88