Family Scholar House: Changing Lives, Families and Communities Through Education

As our economy gasps, anyone could become an at risk statistic. Single-parent families are especially susceptible, but have found an alternative to despair. Family Scholar House is Louisville’s most powerful economic recovery program. With a campus near the University of Louisville, Family Scholar House reaches into the single parent community, and harnesses potential single parents have too rarely experienced.

Since 1995, Family Scholar House has helped hundreds of families in the Louisville area with an extraordinary experience. The method is to release the dignity and energy of empowerment within a safe environment. Parent/students thrive in this culture of astonishment and for these families, a crawl soon becomes a stride. This is the achievable mantra that has become Family Scholar House’s successful approach.

In 2009, Family Scholar House opened a 56-apartment campus. It provides participants and their children the housing and childcare support in their quest. As part of the campus’s offerings, the University of Louisville’s College of Education and Human Development operates an Early Learning Campus for children between the ages of 6 weeks and 4-years old.

However, it is a conditional contract. Each student parent must be single and have a child or children and can be pregnant. They must meet a low-income housing requirement, have obtained a high school diploma or GED and express a desire to pursue a college degree. Making ends meet while the job market flounders sets this standard even higher. A job loss or desire for new job training becomes Family Scholar House’s success to cultivate.

Cathe Dykstra, president and CEO understands this perfectly stating, “Like the trapeze artist that lets go of the bar in their hand to reach for the next bar, it is in this act of faith that the student parents at FSH learn to fly.”

The statistics are sobering. Nationally, there are 12.9 million children who live in poverty and 41.5% live in single-parent homes. (Forum on Child and Family Statistics: ChildStats.gov) In Kentucky, 218,000 children live in poverty with 73% living with a single parent. (National Center for Children in Poverty) Statistics point to the lack of education necessary to obtain employment. In Kentucky, only 17.1% of adults age 25-64 have achieved a degree in higher education. With guidance, Family Scholar House parent/students have become the new economic stimulus. They are part of the new paradigm; a sustainable resource.

Not surprising, Family Scholar House assisted 1,293 families with 1,684 children and 113 babies on the way in 2009. This growth pattern drove further expansion and a future campus closer to Louisville’s hospital hub. Seventy percent of parent/students have chosen degrees in the healthcare industry, allowing a closer proximity to internships, part-time employment and other development opportunities. (emPower Magazine, 2009)

Everyone who enters Family Scholar House is greeted with this phrase; “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled” written by the ancient Greek essayist Plutarch. These words are bold and embody an important mission. With insight and creative strategies, Family Scholar House is changing lives, families and communities through education. Visit www.familyscholarhouse.org. The story is compelling.

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