Single mother works to overcome barriers

Editor's note: This article is the fourth of a five-part series on Hispanic families and the agency representatives who work with them in Alleghany County.

Sparta resident Martha Acosta is a single mother who knows well the challenges which go with that territory: balancing full-time work with her responsibilities to her family and keeping her car running. Like many others recently, she lost her job due to a factory closing.

However, she faces additional challenges with which most single parents are not familiar: a language barrier and the uncertainty of her temporary immigration status.

Nevertheless, she said life is better for her and her family here than it would be in her native Honduras. "I have a job where I make more money than I would in Honduras. It"s easier for my children, there are much better schools," she said, speaking with Sandra Pollard interpreting. "Life in general is very good here."