By Freda Freeman
Correspondent
Although a joy, for many grandparents, raising their grandchildren is challenging and costly.
Pamela Mason, of Raleigh, has raised eight grandchildren, including five living with her: three teenagers and 6-year-old twins. Mason doesn’t get much financial assistance and often looks forward to getting help from local charitable organizations, especially during holidays.
“As far as the much-needed financial help, I don’t get that because my grandchildren have never been in foster care. It’s not easy, it’s not easy at all,” Mason said, explaining that foster parents receive financial assistance from the state and federal government for taking children into their homes, but grandparents don’t.
“We’re basically invisible. We’re not seen at all, … and that’s where BAGS comes in to give me that help, give you resources, give you some sort of knowledge, some kind of support.”
Being a Grandparent Support is a nonprofit organization that serves as a one-stop virtual access point providing grandparents who have custodial care of their grandchildren with information, resources, connections and advocacy. The organization primarily connects grandparents with direct services in Wake and Johnston counties, but its resources also stretch to other counties and states. BAGS’s motto is: “When the bags of life get too heavy, we’re here to support.”