BRITANI HOOD-MONGAR • Chattanooga, Tennessee

Britani is a single mom raising two-year-old twin girls, Parker and Presley. Their father left after Britani told him she was pregnant, despite their engagement.

She and the twins live in an apartment with her mother. Britani works as a cafeteria worker at a local elementary school as a contract worker, and she receives no benefits and no summer salary. She recently went to a food pantry for the first time.

Despite her daily struggles, she tries to stay upbeat for her daughters. “I’m not going to let my kids know that we are struggling every day. I just want to make sure that they are happy and to be able to give them the love [that I can], because I can’t give the love that a father can give,” she said.