ABOUT WHAT ABOUT US?
What about the parent left behind?
When a parent dies, attention understandably turns to the children. Family and friends grieve. Communities mourn. But there is often another person quietly trying to survive the aftermath—the parent who is still here.
The surviving parent is grieving the same loss while suddenly carrying the responsibility of an entire household. They are expected to provide, parent, make decisions, pay bills, and hold the family together—all while trying to process their own grief. Life keeps moving, even when they have barely had time to process what happened.
“Who is supporting the person responsible for holding the family together?”
WHEN WE STRENGTHEN THE PARENT, WE STRENGTHEN THE FAMILY
Children need more than their basic needs met after experiencing loss. They need a parent who has the opportunity to process grief, regain their footing, and be emotionally present. Supporting the surviving parent is an investment in the children. When that parent has room to breathe, the entire household has a better opportunity to stabilize and move forward.
The Gap We Were Created to Fill
Many bereavement resources are designed specifically for widows and widowers—terms traditionally associated with the death of a legally married spouse. But not every parent who loses the mother or father of their children was legally married to them. When an unmarried parent dies, the surviving parent may face the same grief, financial disruption, loss of support, and responsibility of raising grieving children—while potentially falling outside resources designed specifically for widowed spouses.
The children experience the loss of a parent regardless of their parents’ marital status.
What About Us? exists to help bridge this gap. We support surviving parents and their children as they rebuild stability after loss, recognizing that a family’s need for housing, healing, education, and support does not depend on whether the parents were legally married.
The Gap We Were Created to Fill
Many bereavement resources are designed specifically for widows and widowers—terms traditionally associated with the death of a legally married spouse. But not every parent who loses the mother or father of their children was legally married to them. When an unmarried parent passes away, the surviving parent may face the same grief, financial disruption, loss of support, and responsibility of raising grieving children—while potentially falling outside resources designed specifically for widowed spouses
The children experience the loss of a parent regardless of their parents’ marital status.
What About Us exists to help bridge this gap. We support surviving parents and their children as they rebuild stability after loss, recognizing that a family’s need for housing, healing, education, and support does not depend on whether the parents were legally married.
A Mission Rooted in Lived Experience
What About Us? Weathering the Storm was born from lived experience. At 22 years old, founder Natasha “Tasha” Conner lost the father of her children and suddenly became the sole parent of a 2-year-old and a 10-month-old.
There was no time to stop and grieve. Her children still needed to be fed, cared for, comforted, and raised. Bills still had to be paid. Life kept moving.
For Tasha, grief often looked like crying in the shower because that was sometimes the only private moment she could find. Over time, she learned to suppress much of what she was feeling simply to keep functioning. Years later, she came to understand that surviving that way had lasting effects on her emotional well-being and reinforced something she now believes deeply: supporting the surviving parent is an essential part of helping the children heal.
“What difference could it make if someone helped carry part of the load while a surviving parent rebuilt?”
The Gap I Remember
Losing the father of her children was only the beginning of the struggle.
At the time, her children received a combined $236 per month in Social Security survivor benefits. The income cutoff for a program that could have helped with childcare and transportation was $204.
Thirty-two dollars put her over the limit.
Later, as she worked and began earning more, she encountered the same problem in other ways. She was doing exactly what she was supposed to do—working, raising her children, and trying to improve her circumstances—but earning more could also mean losing access to assistance before she was financially secure enough to replace it.
She was not looking for someone to take care of her family indefinitely.
She needed someone to stand in the gap while she worked toward something better.
That is the kind of support she wishes had existed for her.