Stay Up to Date with Family Scholar House!

Each summer we look forward to partnering with the SummerWorks program. In this post, Marie, one of our SummerWorks members, reflected back on her time with Family Scholar House.

“As a student-parent graduate of Family Scholar House, I was delighted to see the program that helped me complete my college degree while raising my son recognized as a 2020 Rise Prize winner. I wish every parent working to balance post-secondary education, work, and parenting responsibilities had a family like the one I found at FSH.”  These are the words of Tiffany Fitzpatrick, a 2020 graduate from the a University of Louisville and mother of Princeton, age 5. When student parents rise, we all rise.

Starting an internship amid a pandemic has been nothing short of unique, especially at Family Scholar House. Before my internship, I had no idea what to expect with covid-19 restrictions or if my internship would even still happen, but Family Scholar House was determined to make it work. Since then, I have observed google hangout meetings and assessments, and helped deliver diapers and meals to the Family Scholar House residents. It has been amazing to see how everyone here creates a way to assist people in whatever way they can even in such a wavering time. Collecting donations such as diapers, food, and school supplies to ensure that the residents have everything they need to succeed in such a trying time and changing meetings to online formats.

Dear 2020 graduates, in a time of global pandemic and national civil unrest, it is easy to allow all the worry and stress to override the happy moments in life. I want to take just a minute to stop and celebrate one of those happy moments with you right now. Whether you completed an apprenticeship, certification, an associates degree, your bachelors, or your master’s I am so proud of the hard work each of you has put in to get to this point.

Seemingly overnight, COVID-19 turned our world upside down. Just a few months ago, we roamed the world freely without masks or gloves. We weren’t worried about being 6 feet apart or making others feel uncomfortable when you pass them in the grocery aisle. We lived our normal lives, the way we always have, and had no reason to think this virus could rock our world so severely.

In honor of National Service Recognition Day, AmeriCorps VISTA, Molly McGee, shares what her experience serving at Family Scholar House means to her.