Hope
We are fortunate to partner with the Homeless and Housing Coalition of Kentucky. Through this partnership we serve as a placement site for AmeriCorp and VISTA members. These talented individuals dedicate a year of service to our families, our agency and overall our community. Read below as Briana, recaps her first month as a member of the FSH team.
In the few short weeks I’ve been at Family Scholar House, I am constantly reminded of the driving force behind all of our work: our participants and their families are our top priority. Whatever they need, largely without limitation, the FSH team makes it happen. Even through a pandemic, and even through a webcam, they manage to connect with and listen to our participants, finding innovative ways to address their individualized needs. I am so impressed with how the staff adapts to constantly changing living, learning, and working conditions, with each week bringing forth a new set of unprecedented circumstances.
COVID has forced us all to redefine our day-to-day priorities and modify our work-home balance. As a recent college graduate myself, I can attest firsthand that completing a degree virtually is tough. For our participants, juggling class attendance and completing assignments with the constant responsibilities of being a parent during NTI makes college that much harder. And yet, they persevere. From what I’ve seen, while the rest of the world struggles to maintain a positive mindset and outlook on life, the community at Family Scholar House continues to instill a sense of hope in one another.
As a VISTA, my job is primarily capacity building; that is, I work to support the needs of our staff and organization so that everyone else can succeed in serving the needs of our participants directly. We all need support and encouragement now more than ever. Here at Family Scholar House, we lean on each other (and our incredible community) for inspiration to brave these trying times, both staff and participants alike. I am so honored and excited by the opportunity to partake in such a dynamic team, and I look forward to continuing to support and learn from them for the remainder of my service year.