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When asked what Family Scholar House means to me, the simplest answer is that they are family. I have been involved with FSH for eight years; I was 10 years old when I lived here with my mom, and now I am a SummerWorks intern at 18. This is my third summer working at FSH as an intern and something I look forward to doing each year. I chose to spend my summers with Family Scholar House because I know everything they do has an impact on the people they serve. Every year I get the opportunity to support the community that helped my family break the cycle of poverty.

When the Japanese mend broken objects, they mend the damage by filling the cracks with gold. They believe that when something has suffered damage and has history, it becomes more beautiful. As the covid numbers decrease and the number of individuals receiving the vaccine increases, we are slowly transitioning back into some in-person workshops with our participants. It has been a very long year with little human interaction, and this past week we experienced our first in person workshop in the 2021 year.

I was 20 years old when I found out I was pregnant. I wasn’t finished with school. I was dating someone who was continuously abusive, and, at this time, my life felt hopeless. I was having his baby, we were going to have to deal with each other forever now. How was I going to get anywhere in life? My family lost hope in my future, so naturally I did, too. When I gave birth to my son, Liam, I realized this is not what I wanted for him at all. He deserved a happy home, a peaceful space to learn and grow, and I was determined to give that to him. When I discovered Family Scholar House and what they had to offer, I knew I would do whatever it took to become a part of the program.

This semester a group of students enrolled at Indiana University Southeast volunteered to assist in telling the story of Family Scholar House. Students spent time getting to know our participants and learn more about the FSH experience. This is part of the story from one of our 2021 graduates.

This semester a group of students enrolled at Indiana University Southeast volunteered to assist in telling the story of Family Scholar House. Students spent time getting to know our participants and learn more about the FSH experience. This is part of the story from one of our amazing participants.

What does a normal week look like for you? That is a question that is often asked, but usually difficult to answer. What is “normal”? We recently posed that question to one of our Academic Coaches, Alex, and Gracey, a Family Advocate, to find out what their work week looks like.  With 89 single parents and 123 children between their two campuses, there can be a lot of changes in a typical week that make it anything but typical.