I can still remember the way my heart plummeted to my feet as my former spouse pushed the detonator on the life I had as a homeschooling mother and the plans we made for our future together. My battle to piece back those shattered remains and preserve our marriage whittled 25 pounds from my frame and left me wrestling with trauma and battered self-esteem, not the most inspirational companions when our marriage disintegrated at the end of 2022 and I was left to fend for myself and my two children.

Endless data told me about the devastation awaiting me. Around 83% of single-parent families are headed by women. Over 31% of single mothers experience poverty, and 45.4% receive food stamps. In many conservative circles, it seemed that single parents were regarded with pity or contempt, as if they personally set out to defraud society of economic potential and strip traditional marriage of its value.

The stigmas especially felt overwhelming. Without my wedding ring, it seemed like I was navigating the world with a glaring neon sign flashing on my chest. “Alone,” it read. “Harlot.” “Not enough.” “Quitter.”

Quitting, though, was never an option. My children needed me. All the statistics about single-parent poverty never scared me so much as the warnings about the trauma that children of divorce face.

I may have been single as I charged fearfully into the unknown, but I was never alone. Dozens of people reached out hands of support along my path. They pulled me up so that I could stand on my own.

I was 10 years removed from the traditional workforce, and unsure of my utility in the working world, when fate introduced me to veteran author and fellow Afghanistan enthusiast Mikael Cook. The podcast we started together helped me remember that my work could make a difference.

Several months later, my friend Heather recommended me for the American Enterprise Institute’s Leadership Network, which introduced me to incredible peers throughout the country and reinvigorated my passion for liberty. Family friend Barbara Boldt noted the similarity in our life journeys and recruited me to work on her memoirs about her post-divorce leap into a life beyond the stifling strictures of corporate America. Helping to craft her story filled me with the drive to tell so many of my own.

Reorienting myself within the working world was only part of my battle. I also had to recover mentally. The persistent, toxic brain chatter that clouded my waking moments was excruciating. My therapist was instrumental in helping me find quiet, trust myself, and honor my feelings. My parents and friends offered endless support and helped me with the heavy weight of parsing through the past and navigating the future toward which I was striving.

Another helping hand came from the man I started dating when my life was still awash with uncertainty. While I knitted together the tears and gaps that divorce had rent in my heart, he built furniture and handled installations around my new house, made me dinner on difficult nights when my children were with their father, and joined me and my children on unforgettable new adventures.

Creating continuity and peace for my children has been at the forefront of my mind throughout the adjustment process. The family, teachers, and friends who rallied around us, and the kind strangers who swooped in like guardian angels on some of my hardest days, were the shining lights in what I once expected would be a dark descent into destitution and ostracism.

Oftentimes, single parenthood is still overwhelming. The demands on my time are endless, as are the hurdles I have yet to manage. But I know for certain that the community my children and I have found will help us along on our new path.

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Single mothers choose their situation, or are thrust into it, for a variety of reasons that defy stereotypes and stigmas. As such, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to addressing their needs. Many would benefit most substantially from an improved economic safety net. Others such as myself need more mental health and physical support to ensure our success.

In my experience, it has been the personal touch, the people who take time to listen without judgment and offer a supportive hand, that helped me to stand tall so I can provide a springboard for my children’s success.

Beth Bailey (@BWBailey85) is a former intelligence analyst who gave up her career to pursue marriage and motherhood. Since beginning her single parenting journey, she has become a freelance contributor to Fox News Digital and the co-host of The Afghanistan Project, which takes a deep dive into the tragedy wrought in the wake of the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan.