A government program that helped fund day care for struggling families has dropped about 4,700 children - leaving parents like Patricia Hawkinson, a single mother of two, scrambling to keep their families afloat.

Hawkinson's fight to stay in the day-care voucher program prompted her to write nearly 50 letters to local, state and federal public officials and agency heads. So far, only Gov. Mark Sanford's office has responded.

"I am not just a number," Hawkinson wrote to the officials. "I am a human being who is being forced out of work by the state. I refuse to lay down and become a welfare mom."

Hawkinson's two sons - Isaiah, 2, and Aaron, 8 - were among the children served by the government-funded ABC voucher program.

Inadequate government funding, rising costs of quality child care and an increase in the number of families mandated by law to receive such services forced the state Department of Health and Human Services to cut the program for families like Hawkinson's, officials said.

"We're very conscious of the fact that those people have lost their benefits," said Kim Aydlette, state director of the Department of Social Services. "Some of those people are vulnerable to ... ending up on the welfare rolls. It certainly concerns me, and I'm not trying to minimize it."

The 4,700 children all will be cut off by next month. Welfare-to-work families are the only ones eligible for vouchers.

"We've got a lot of problems in this state from school buses to HIV," said outgoing Rep. Tom Keegan, R-Surfside Beach. "It's an awful, terrible situation to deal with. People try to do the best they can with the resources they have."

The cuts also have racked child-care centers as they lose children once served by the voucher program.

Many parents don't know what to do when they lose the vouchers, said Kristine Jenkins, owner of Kiddie Junction and Giggles and Wiggles, who said about 20 children have been pulled out because their vouchers were cut.

"A lot of [mothers] will quit their jobs and stay home," Jenkins said.

And many families will turn to welfare - an avenue Hawkinson may soon face.

The program costs more than $80 million to operate. It served about 22,000 children statewide on average. This includes the nearly 5,000 recently dropped.

But DSS officials say other states face similar cuts, as do other DSS programs.

"We've lost money in all of our programs," Aydlette said. "I wish all the Social Services programs were a bigger priority."

Aydlette said parents who wish to contact a public official could call a federal- or state-level politician.

She said she thinks better times are ahead. "I really do hope it's going to swing back around," Aydlett said. "I hope that it's not permanent."

Hawkinson lives in Myrtle Beach. She earns about $1,400 a month as manager of a quick-loan agency. Her child-care costs run about $1,000 per month - an amount once almost completely covered by vouchers.

Hawkinson learned in June she would be dropped from the program. She has appealed the decision twice and awaits a decision on her second appeal.

Without money to afford day care, Hawkinson spent her first day at home with her children Monday.

She has other options, but none is very appealing. She contemplated getting a night job and leaving the children with a friend at night. But when would she sleep?

She could return to school and hope more education would eventually bring a better job, although she has a degree in criminal justice and she likely would have to turn to welfare anyway.

Sitting in her kitchen, Hawkinson pointed to the things around her. It took her three years to save up enough money for the television.

With tears in her eyes at points, she spoke of early mornings with the children, long hours at work and her average of four hours of sleep a night.

"I was never a mother sitting at home watching Jerry Springer," she said. "I want to do something worthwhile with my life."

She has sent dozens of letters, including messages to the Myrtle Beach mayor and to President Bush.

"I'm not the type of person who can say: 'Cool. Make me a welfare mom,'" she said. "Until this happens to one of [the politicians'] daughters or nieces, it isn't going to matter to them."