By Maud Weaver

Chloe Grove is a single mother of two currently enrolled as a student in the personal support worker program at George Brown College. As the pandemic continues and she pursues her online education, she is taking it a week at a time and remaining optimistic.

Grove is the mother of a three and five-year-old. So when the province of Ontario gave parents the choice to send their kids back to physical school or have them do virtual programming, she made the difficult choice to send her kids back to physical classes. Now, she has time alone at home to attend her classes and fulfill her course requirements.

“This was not an easy decision,” Grove says. “I definitely knew that having my child, she’s 5 years old, learn virtually next to me while I’m in my program as well online, plus having my toddler at home kind of minding her own business, doing her thing, playing. I know that that wouldn’t be an option.”

As schools return and COVID-19 cases rise, Grove’s concerns about the future of her children’s in-person education are shared with other parents, and she is worried about how her own education would be affected if they are sent home again.

“We’ll see how it goes. If they’re back home with me again, I definitely am worried, so I’ll cross my fingers, but I’m still going to try and get through the program.”

Grove stays positive and looks forward to completing her program.

“I want a good future. I want a good job. And that’s why I started a program at George Brown… because I really want to make things better for my kids and I.”

Grove and her children live with her father, so she doesn’t have to pay rent. Childcare is also made easily accessible through her parents when they are available. Despite all of this, however, Grove is still just focused on making it by.

“Right now, I’m paying daycare out of pocket and I receive child tax benefit (CTB) for both of my children in the full amount because I’m not making an income. But, almost all of my CTB goes to daycare for my youngest daughter, so I just have a little bit left for groceries and a couple other things… but that’ll get me through school,” she says.

The GBC student knows she is not going through this alone.

“I would love to hear from other parents as well about how they are feeling. I’ve spoken to a few as well, like, just in person and/or on Whatsapp and at the school about how they’re feeling”

The toll this pandemic is taking on single-parent students at George Brown is undeniable, but Grove is determined to stay focused on the light at the end of the tunnel.

“It’s not forever,” Grove says. “It’s just doing what I have to do for now.”