So much to be said about the rewards of Single Parent Scholarship Fund it can not be told in this space. It is a life changing program where the recipients walks away with more than a scholarship. They are connected with mentors and dedicated staff members who have nothing but their best interest at heart. With a 90% graduation rate, they are able to walk away with a college degree and change their circumstances from poverty to success for themselves and their children. If you are a single parent trying to go to school, you should check it out. I recommend you support this worthy cause, because when you bring a single mother/father out of poverty, you bring their child out too. I know for a fact, because it did it for me! I shall always be grateful for the support financially and emotionally I received as a recipient of the SPSF. Thank you for all you do for so many! Congratulations SPSF for remaining a constant in our community where struggle single parent students can find help!
Wow! Such a wonder nonprofit not only was I helped by the scholarship I walked away with so much confidence because I was constantly reminded of my greatness, I was contantly encouraged and guided, and I felt so much love from SPSF of Pulaski County family......and still do as I am given opportunities to give back and volunteer to such a great cause
A fantastic nonprofit with a wonderful mission. SPSF assists worthy candidates pay for school through scholarships. The opportunity of an education has ripple effects across our community. SPSF provides 55(!!)scholarships--thank you to those who apply to and those who administer this program.
Since 1991, the Single Parent Scholarship Fund has been a favorite and most admired education program in my community. The organization has not only awarded over a million dollars to single mothers and fathers in Pulaski County, it has a graduation rate of almost 90 percent, which is unprecedented. The program and its significant outcomes have addressed some Arkansas’ most serious issues – higher education, career development, welfare-to-work and economic growth. I have long valued the advancements made and served for six years as a very proud board member.
In 2010-2011, I spent a year in treatment battling cancer. In July of 2010, the day before surgery, SPSF’s executive director delivered to me a pair of pink boxing gloves to take to the hospital, signed with well wishes by my fellow board members. I packed the gloves in my suitcase, and asked family to place them in my hospital room as a reminder of their endearing friendship.
While at UAMS, my evening nurse, Dot, asked me about the pink gloves. As I began to tell her about the Single Parent Scholarship Fund, she politely interrupted to tell me her own story.
In the 1990, Dot became a single mother with three young children. Without a degree, she was faced with a serious burdensome journey – the unexpected financial hardship of providing for a family of four without many employment options due to a lack of education. With a desire to attend nursing school, Dot applied to SPSF and became a first-year scholarship recipient. Today, she is a senior-level oncology nurse at UAMS, and has also managed to successfully raise three grown children, all having completed their own college degrees. At SPSF, we have long known that when you help bring a single parent out of poverty, they take their children with them. Dot’s educational success, and that of her three children, is living proof.
My chance encounter with Dot reminds me that we are all one community, and our connections run deep. Dot’s story embodies what the founders of SPSF had hoped to accomplish. And now, a single mother who was once in great need, has fulfilled her dream of a college education and career, and is now helping others like me during our own time of need.
An investment in the Single Parent Scholarship Fund impacts the wellbeing of countless non-traditional students who are able to open up new doors and put their families economically back on track.
The Single Parent Scholarship Fund provides much needed financial assistance to single parents enrolled in two and four year post high school programs. Our success rate for graduations is above 90%, which is far above general graduation rates at these institutions. Our students receive money to help them live sustainably while studying. And our assistance is not only monetary. We offer training in numerous life skills, in healthy living, in financial management, etc. We also offer students, many of whom have been dismissed by family and friends as losers, encouragement and improved self esteem. Our graduates work hard. And through their education, they are able to lift their families out of poverty.