Four years ago I became a single mom. It hasn鈥檛 been easy but now I鈥檓 a college graduate working toward my MBA, volunteering in the community, and raising five thriving children. I never could have done it alone 鈥� the state Family Affordability Tax Credit and critical Larimer County resources made it possible.
I鈥檓 a member of the Chippewa Cree Tribe and Mexican American, the eighth of 11 children. Like most Native families, we experienced generational trauma, like the pain of my mother, who was taken as a child and raised in an institutional home. I resolved to never forget the systemic harms but also to heal the wounds as I raise my own children.
In 2022, I had no choice but to move out of our house and leave my relationship with my children鈥檚 father. The urgency of the situation meant we had very little furniture, even beds. Our Nissan Sentra didn鈥檛 have enough seatbelts to protect us all, so I often had to leave my oldest teenager at home so I wouldn鈥檛 be at risk of being charged with child endangerment.
Determined to go back to school to create a better life for my children, WomenGive – United Way of Larimer County believed in me.聽 They provided a child care scholarship that enabled me to choose and afford culturally responsive child care for my younger kids so I could enroll at Colorado State University. Equally impactful, United Way鈥檚 WomenRise program provided $500 in cash assistance per month for one year that gave me the autonomy to meet our most immediate needs.
Fortunately, while I pursued my bachelor鈥檚 degree and worked at the campus Native American Cultural Center, I also qualified for the . The tax credit provides a refundable, per-child credit to families with children under age 17, with benefits that vary by child age and phase out gradually as income rises. The nearly $10,000 refund allowed me to buy a car that had enough seatbelts so nobody was left at home, a bed for my son, as well as shoes and clothes for all my rapidly growing children.
With the Family Affordability Tax Credit and United Way鈥檚 support, giving me opportunities to advance my family鈥檚 future, I鈥檝e achieved important goals, like finishing college and starting my MBA. Additionally, they provided me with breathing room to become an advocate and volunteer supporting Native and other underserved communities.
For example, I serve on Colorado鈥檚 Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives community advisory board and the steering committee for History Colorado鈥檚 Federal Indian Boarding School Project. I was also a research assistant for CSU鈥檚 Environmental Management of Military Lands鈥� Federal Indian Boarding School Research Project, and I worked for a K-12 Indigenous summer camp in Fort Collins. It抖阴ap an important part of my identity as an Indigenous woman to support youth in meaningful and culturally grounded ways.
Once I graduate, my plan is to honor the people and programs that helped me by starting a nonprofit to work with Native American youth and their families so they can climb out of challenges as I did.
The Family Affordability Tax Credit that was so essential to my family鈥檚 progress is in peril due to federal cuts and the resulting state budget cuts. According to new research from The Women鈥檚 Foundation of Colorado, 1 in 5 single moms with young kids live in poverty. Discontinuing the FATC聽 threatens the well-being of thousands of us who are working hard to make ends meet. My experience confirms this, but so do the data: The Family Affordability Tax Credit (FATC) reduced child poverty by approximately 20 percent. When combined with the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), it lowered child poverty by roughly 37 percent and family poverty by nearly one-third.
My journey has been defined by resilience, growth and transformation. Single moms like me depend on important resources like the Family Affordability Tax Credit to find our paths to healthy, sustainable futures for our families. I urge our legislators to vote for the tax policy package that would restore it so other families can thrive.
Delilah Lopez is a single mother of 5 who lives in Fort Collins.
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