Alicya and daughter Amiyah read together as part of the Family Scholar House program in Louisville. JobSource hopes to bring a similar program to Madison County to help single parents obtain post-secondary degrees and better employment opportunities. Submitted photo | Kriech-Higdon Photography
Family Scholar House partnered with a local developer to construct the Riverport facility, which provides apartments for 32 single parents and 32 alumni of foster care. Ken de la Bastide | The Herald Bulletin
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. – A program started by six nuns from six different religious orders is designed to help women raising children in poverty.
Since that beginning, the Family Scholar House organization is helping single parents and those coming from foster care to obtain a post-secondary education as they enter the job market.
Doug Eckerty, director of JobSource, is hoping to start a similar program in Madison County based on the model of the Family Scholar House. Family Scholar House has affiliates in several states and has 27,000 households participating nationwide.
Cathe Dykstra took over as CEO in 2005 when the program started by the nuns was helping four families and had a staff of four. Today Family Scholar House has 279 apartments at five locations assisting 247 single- parent families and 32 foster care alumni. The not-for-profit organization had a 2020 budget of $2.9 million and there is a long list of corporate and individual donors.
Through their different opportunities, the program served 4,694 single parents and 6,208 children last year.
The success rate is 88% of the clients obtaining a post-secondary degree or finding higher paying employment.
Housing for the single parents is paid for by the federal government. Most also receive food stamps.
“It was not a sustainable program,” Dykstra said. “They were raising money through bingo, and when the casinos opened that impacted their operation.”
She said at the time Project Women had a 24-unit apartment building with 12 for women in the program while leasing the other dozen.
“Something had to change,” Dykstra said. “We wanted to provide affordable housing, an income and child care for clients to focus on their education.
“We changed the name to put the focus on education by providing housing and support for single parents,” she said.
The first challenge was to make the program sustainable, Dykstra said.
“How do we make the community understand these families were part of the community?” Dykstra said. “We wanted to make people feel that they were part of the community family.”
In 2007 Family Scholar House leased property from the University of Louisville and built a 56-unit apartment complex.
A second facility was constructed in 2018, with 64 units shared equally by single family parents and foster care alumni.
Kristie Adams, vice president of Family Scholar House, said there is a waiting list for single parents who want to get into the program.
“Parents can start in the program while they are waiting for housing,” she said. “Clients are required to attend meetings on parenting and household finances.
“To remain in the program they have to maintain a 2.0 grade point average, be a full-time student, attend twice-a-week workshops and provide four hours of community service weekly,” Adams said.
There are 13 different educational facilities in the Louisville area the parents can use to obtain their degrees.
She said the newest complex at Riverport is part of a larger apartment community that includes traditional apartments and senior housing.
“Until the pandemic, we were offering a meal once a week to anyone,” Adams said. “We have a food pantry and have clothing available,” Once the clients obtain a degree, they have 180 days to find new housing, but the Family Scholar House staff continues to provide support.
“We have gotten a favorable response from the surrounding community,” Adams said.
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