Founder’s Story
More than two decades ago, founder Natasha Conner became the surviving parent of two young boys after their father was killed. At just 21 years old, she was grieving an unimaginable loss while raising a 2-year-old and a 10-month-old, all while trying to keep life moving forward.
Tasha and her children’s father were not married, and that distinction exposed a gap she had never realized existed. There were resources designed specifically for widows, but as an unmarried surviving parent, she did not fit that category. At the same time, traditional assistance for single-parent families did not necessarily address the unique realities of suddenly parenting alone because the other parent had died.
She found herself somewhere in between, grieving the loss of her children’s father, helping two babies through a life-changing loss, and carrying the responsibility of keeping the family stable without support specifically designed for families like hers.
Because they were both so young, their father’s Social Security earnings history was limited. As a result, Natasha received just $118 per child in Social Security survivor benefits—a total of $236 per month to help support two young children.
Yet that $236 placed her just $32 above the income eligibility limit for public assistance that would have helped with childcare and transportation. She was denied access to resources that could have made it possible to work, provide for her children, and begin rebuilding their lives.
She wasn’t financially secure. She wasn’t receiving enough to meet her family’s needs. But according to the eligibility guidelines, she made too much to qualify. Just $32 stood between her family and the support they desperately needed.
There was no pause for grief. Bills still had to be paid. Children still needed their mother. Life still had to move forward.
Years later, that experience became the foundation for WHAT ABOUT US, an organization created to help close that gap by supporting the surviving parent while strengthening the entire family.
What began as a personal question—“What about us?”—became a mission to help surviving parents access the housing, healing, education, and support they need to rebuild their lives.
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.