Some of the greatest success stories start out with someone who comes out of poverty, the child of a single parent who gives and sacrifices to make sure the child has all the opportunities never afforded to them.

And whether it be academics or athletics, that child takes full advantage of every opportunity given to them. They excel because of the strong work ethic passed down to them. They remember where they came from, and know where they don’t want to end up. They overcome the obstacles sometimes associated with poverty, like addiction to drugs or alcohol, abuse, peer pressure, crime, high school dropout rates, and anything else thrown in their path toward success.

And somewhere along the way, that successful person makes it known that none of it would have been possible without the support of that single parent or the family who supported them.

That person doesn’t have to become president one day — though several have — or a superstar basketball player — though many, many have.

They could end up being the person sitting in the cubicle next to yours, teaching the class down the hallway, or the person you mingle with at a business after hours event. They’ve broken out of the cycle of poverty, and they are making a life they never dreamed possible for themselves and their children.

But sometimes you need a little more than just the drive to provide better for your children. Sometimes you need a helping hand — not a handout.

That’s what we consider the child-care subsidies that allow parents — many of them single mothers, the working poor or those returning to school for degrees — to pay a reduced rate to daycare centers. These are not people who are living off the system, but rather ones who are working to make a better life for their children so that they will have the opportunities their parents were never given.

In late June, the Department of Health and Human Resources announced cuts to the daycare subsidy program, intended to help West Virginia fiscally survive the rising Medicaid costs that will be a major burden on the state budget in coming years. The cuts would have taken $8 million from the program that helps provide day care to 24,000 children of the working poor in a three-prong cutback: Sharply limiting new participants in the program; increasing daily costs for some families; and gradually removing 1,400 children gradually from the program.

The announcement was followed by a great deal of backlash, citing that the cost-cutting measure would punish working families and their children instead of giving them the helping hand they needed.

On Tuesday, Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin announced that the freeze to limit new participants had been lifted, and that an effort was being made to evaluate the program and determine how to deal with the costs associated with it.

“Because this program is important to thousands of West Virginia working families, I have lifted the freeze on the child-care subsidy program — allowing qualified families to enter this program,” Tomblin said in a statement announcing the lift of the freeze. “We need to strike a reasonable balance between access to and quality of child care while placing a priority on funding services for the families and children who need it most.”

Before the announcement, Aug. 1 would have been the date that cut off any new participants except children in the state’s custody or families on welfare.

But now, families that make between 150 and 185 percent of the federal poverty level will be allowed to continue within the program, paying a reduced daily rate for their child’s care. For a single mother, 150 percent of the poverty level is merely $22,700. We all know the costs of housing, transportation, food and medicine. Add in the full price of daycare, and it’s not feasible for a single parent to work to provide for their family while giving their child adequate child care during the work day.

There are two cuts to the program, however, that have been left in place, though Tomblin says his office will work with DHHR, child-care providers and experts in the field to address.

Instead of having to pay 5 percent of daily costs, families will now be required to pay for 12 percent. According to the DHHR, the average cost for child care for an infant is $28 per day. The increased family contribution would mean that working poor families would go from paying $1.40 per day to $3.36 per day — an increase of more than $500 annually.

Also, as of Jan. 1, 2013, the state plans to start removing people from the program who make more than 150 percent of the poverty level.

Let’s go back to the single mother making $22,700 per year. What choice is she left with? Paying full price for daycare, about $6,700 per year, would account for almost 30 percent of annual earnings. What incentive would she have to work or to go to school to better her family’s situation?

This program and the benefit it offers to working parents is not something we can allow to phase out, and it deserves the attention it needs to preserve funding at the level that exists today.

If someone is working, it’s not an entitlement. It’s an incentive.

If someone is trying to change their lives for the better, it’s not a handout. It’s a hand up.

We are certainly glad that prior to the Aug. 1 cutoff, Tomblin’s office made a move in the right direction by lifting the freeze on the program. But we cannot allow for the children of the working poor to be left out in the cold in the future.