Single Parent Scholarship: Lifeline to many

Shael McDonald had been a successful, well-respected paralegal for 15 years when people from the law firm where she worked encouraged her to earn a college degree.

McDonald wasn’t the traditional college student in any way. She was a single parent to students who were in high school or college, almost 40 years old and was the first person in her family to get a college degree.

“Being a non-traditional student going to school as an adult after having kids and a career is frightening,” she said.

McDonald has a couple of semesters left before earning her bachelor’s degree in rhetoric and writing with a minor in speech communication at the University of Arkansas Fort Smith. When she crosses that stage and accepts the diploma, McDonald will have the support of family, friends and an amazing network that includes community member, corporate sponsors and fellow single parent students.

That “network” is the Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Crawford, Franklin and Sebastian Counties.

The agency is an affiliate of the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund, which has affiliate programs established throughout the state, representing a total of 70 counties. Each one is community and grant supported and they provide financial assistance for single parents going back to school to earn a degree or professional certification. They rely on fundraisers and donations to thrive.

There are active Single Parent Scholarship Fund affiliate programs in Benton County, Northwest Arkansas (serves Madison, Carroll and Washington counties), and the Fort Smith metro area.

According to the Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund website, affiliates have awarded a combined total of more than 31,000 scholarships worth more than $17 million from 1990 through September 2012. A comprehensive recipient follow-up study completed in 2010 revealed an 82% retention and graduation rate and a 70% employment rate at above poverty-level income among working graduates, also according to the site.

Each affiliate has its own method of distributing the scholarships and a board that decides recipient criteria. The money usually does not have to be spent on tuition, which is helpful for single parents who are trying to juggle so many proverbial financial balls.

The biggest common factor is that all the SPSF affiliates offer much more than a check. They provide mentoring, advice, social events, job coaching and some give Christmas gift assistance for recipients’ children.

“The money is supportive and helpful, but it’s also the fact that they give us tools as well,” McDonald said. “It’s the information, it’s another lifeline, another rope for you.”

McDonald said that the SPSF and going back to school has changed both her life and the life of several in her family.

“The decision (to go back to school) was not an easy one, but once I did, the doors opened,” she said. “Now my daughter went to school and so did my sister. It’s like a big key to a big door. I’m so very grateful that I did it.”

McDonald never forgets how she got to where she is and wants to spend her time after graduation giving back to the Fort Smith community by participating in committees and organizations that promote the community’s growth and development.

FORT SMITH AREA
The SPSF that helps McDonald was originally a part of the United Way but became its own nonprofit organization in 2006, Executive Director Linda Kaufenberg said. She is the only paid employee. Last year they gave 112 scholarships totaling more than $68,000.

She said word is spreading about the organization, both among potential scholarship applicants and the donor base. The organization started as just serving Crawford and Sebastian counties and joined with the Franklin County organization in January 2012. Just a year before the two groups merged, an auxiliary group formed to act as ambassadors for the scholarship program. There are about 25 members.

“They are more than a volunteer because they are our arm out in the community,” Kaufenberg said.

Like all SPSF programs, donors range from corporations to individuals. A group of four couples decided to come together a few years ago to support the SPSF program and they call themselves the Friends of Education. Instead of buying each other gifts at birthdays and Christmas, these couples take that money and set it aside for the scholarship program. They then get to have a say in which students receive those funds each year.

Ken Kennedy is a part of the Friends of Education and he said that the group decided to support Single Parent Scholarship because at the time, it was a new organization that supported a good cause.

“We knew all the money would be going towards scholarships, not towards administrative costs,” he added. “This gave us a way to do that and give towards someone who needed it.”
Kennedy said that at first, the program “struggled to give away scholarships because no one knew they were there. But now they have to choose. It’s become very competitive.”

NORTHWEST ARKANSAS SUPPORT
There are two Single Parent Scholarship Fund affiliates in Northwest Arkansas. The SPSF of NWA helps parents in Washington, Madison and Carroll counties. SPSF of Benton County serves parents in that county.

The SPSF of NWA started out in 1984 serving Washington County and it merged with the affiliates in Madison and Carroll counties in 2009. A completely volunteer organization until 2000, the organization now has a small paid staff. It awards more than $300,000 each year, according to the website.

“It’s so much more than the money,” said Executive Director Jody Dilday. “Especially how we interview every recipient. It’s not so much that we are sizing them up, it’s that we sitting around that table to offer them support. We might be the only people cheering them on. Leaders in the community are giving their time to do this so (the students) know that the community believes in them.”

Scholarship recipients get the chance to build relationships with people in the industries they are interested in joining.

“It lets them pick their brain,” Dilday said. “They can ask questions like what is it really like in the workforce? What’s the busiest time of year (in the industry)? Will I have flexibility to be a parent as well? “They get a reality check.”

Andrea Mutzhaus is a teacher at Farmington’s Jerry Williams Elementary where she teaches third grade. She graduated from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville in 2011 with a degree in elementary education. The 34-year-old single parent of one son said “there is no way I could have made it without this. Not even full loans would have covered everything. Part-time jobs wouldn’t have done it. This was the piece of the puzzle that made it possible for me to attend college,” she said passionately.

Mutzhaus said having an organization willing to invest money, time and other resources is a “major vote of confidence and it gave me a sense of peace that I would be able to meet all our needs.”

It also helped her be a strong role model for her son, who watched his mom achieve her goals along the way.

“It set a great example for him.” she said. “Now he’s a go-getter and he gets good grades.”

He can see how important school is to having a better life, she added.

Benton County’s SPSF program began in 1984 and adopted its 501c3 in 1988. This year, officials estimate that more than $421,000 will be given out in scholarships and other assistance.
Sally Conduff, executive director, said that all the administrative costs are paid for with a separate grant.

“Everything donated goes to scholarships,” she said.

Seeing the changed lives is the best part of the program, she agreed.

“I get excited every time we have a student who comes in and who was discouraged and then after a year in school they are more confident and look more professional. When they graduate, it is just amazing,” Conduff said.

Conduff said the students are most appreciative of the encouragement they get in addition to the money.

“When they needed a pep talk (we) were there to give it and we celebrate with them,” she said.

Candace McKinley is a 31-year-old parent of three living in Siloam Springs. She earned a degree at NorthWest Arkansas Community College and is taking online classes at Columbia College. She plans to eventually get her master’s degree.

“One of my favorite things is the free counseling,” she said. “It’s already stressful to be a student but then also a parent. Most also work. There’s a lot of guilt and anxiety, especially for the older students.”

McKinley said she likes how the money is distributed from the organization. Recipients are given an allotment and the organization pays the designated bills for them with that allotted money. That helps stay on track financially, she said.

Overall, the financial and emotional support has made a major difference in her life and the life of her children.

“I don't think I would have been able to stay in school this long without their support,” she said. “When I started, I was looking at just getting a couple classes, maybe an associate's degree. Now I'm on my way to getting my masters,” McKinley said. “It helps single parents achieve more than they ever thought they could.”

ULTIMATE GOAL
The ultimate goal for the Single Parent Scholarship Fund programs is not to simply provide money to close the gap for students while they are in school. It’s to inspire them to do something greater, to get themselves out of poverty and to get their children out of poverty.

“We are helping people who are dependent and with a little bit of help and investment, we are turning them into contributors. They are buying homes, investing in the local economy,” Dilday said. “Participants are also more likely to give to charity. They are turning around and giving them some help for those who come behind.”

Kaufenberg had similar thoughts.

“We have a two-fold mission here: we want to educate the parents, but also bring their children out of poverty,” she said.

The most logical solution to elevate children out of poverty is to educate their mother or father, Kaufenberg said.

“We realize that we are changing a family dynamic. We are impacting potentially up to three generations of individuals,” she added.