b'MORE THAN THEIR INCLUDING EVERYONE IN THE REGIONAL ECONOMYSTRUGGLESSounding the alarm last year have co-pays, or pay out of pocket. She dreads buying on the gap between single mother batteries for her cochlear implant: replacements cost headed households representation$250. I always think I might need that money for a real in the region28%and emergency, she says. their representation amongEvery working parent knows that the best-laid plans households in poverty72%often go awry, but for women raising their children the Foundation is wielding its alone, theyre often one flat tire, one illness, or one rent most powerful percentage to increase away from a full-blown financial crisis. close it: 100 Percent Pittsburgh. That constant threat looming over many single mothers in the region is one of the motivators for Pittsburgh Foundation staffs outreach to this group. Its EARLY MORNINGS ARE A BLURof activity for Brandi Lee.100 Percent Pittsburgh organizing principle dedicates Before she starts her rounds as a community healthmuch of the Foundations grant resources to developing worker, she rouses her two sons. McKinley, her 5-year- new opportunities for those left out of the regions old, heads to Summer Dreamers, a day camp offeredrevitalized economy. As the Foundations yearlong by Pittsburgh Public Schools. Her 11-year-old, Aaron,study shows, single mothers struggle disproportionately.needs to be dropped off at a church summer camp.The January report noted that while only 28% Im in the middlenot low-income, but notof households in Allegheny County are headed by a enough to buy a home or a new car, she explains.single mother, they account for 72% of all families with Lee is grateful to have found affordable, high-children in poverty. In Pittsburgh itself, that number quality child care. Her car is working, and her Brightonjumps to 78%.Heights apartment, though small, is in a neighborhoodSince 2007, poverty among single, femaleheaded where she feels safe. Shes been there three years, buthouseholds in Allegheny County has increased by 9%. now she fears the rent may increase. Her employerBut some benefits, such as the $403 a month in cash provides health care benefits, but the result, she says,assistance that an eligible family of three receives, havent can be a Catch-22. Im not on Medicaid, but now Iincreased in decades. Women who earn minimum wage 38'