The Family Scholar House

At the Family Scholar House in Louisville, parents have the opportunity to pursue higher education in a supportive atmosphere.

“The mission of family scholar house is to end the cycle of poverty and transform our community by empowering families and youth to succeed in education and achieve lifelong self-sufficiency,” says Cathe Dykstra, President and CEO of Family Scholar House. “We believe that the best way and the only way to lift children out of poverty is to help their parents provide stable housing, basic needs, and the college-going culture that ensures financial independence for generations.”

Raising children takes up much of the time and financial resources a parent has, making a college degree seem like an impossible dream. The Family Scholar House steps in by assisting single parents with financial aid and educational guidance as well as assistance in obtaining welfare benefits and childcare programs that will allow them to pursue their academic goals and ultimately a successful career.

The Family Scholar House also runs an early learning campus in partnership with the University of Louisville. The campus provides day care and preschool to children of Family Scholar House students as well as the children of University of Louisville students, faculty, and staff.

Students can attend any accredited college or university in any accredited program of study. As students near graduation, the Family Scholar House provides career guidance as the scholars move toward self-sufficiency. Besides the benefit of improved career prospects, participants are also able to model educational achievement for their children.

“We’re used to seeing a young mother come in with her children, not broken, but fractured.” says Dykstra. “And three, four years later, from the services we provide and the support that she’s received to get her education, we see a successful young woman graduate from college. We see her children witness that and exit our program to self-sufficiency. And from that, not only is she better off, and the children are better off, but our community is better off.”

This segment is part of Kentucky Life episode #2017, which originally aired on May 9, 2015. Watch the full episode.