Breaking Barriers: LifeStart Parents Defy Odds and Obtain High School Diplomas

The Family Support Center is proud to announce the graduation of four single parents at LifeStart Village!

Graduate and LifeStart Village Resident, Latonya, with family.

LifeStart Village is a unique community housing 46 families who come from homelessness, substance abuse, and/or other trauma. The mission of the Family Support Center's (FSC) LifeStart Village is to move single parents with children from dependency to self-sufficiency. In LifeStart Village, single parents and their children move from homelessness or near homelessness into safe, stable housing where they develop the necessary skills to create a stable, nurturing environment.

Part of the curriculum involves parents obtaining a high school degree, GED, college degree, or sustainable employment. Going back to school is not an easy task but our parents are defying the odds.

In September 2020, LifeStart Village Program Coordinator, Mattea, saw the daily challenges parents faced while trying to obtain their high school diploma or GED. To help mitigate these difficulties, Mattea organized a Wednesday night study group to support these parents. During the study group, LifeStart Village offers free childcare, providing the parents a dedicated time where they can focus without distractions. While their children are being taken care of, residents and staff work as a team on difficult assignments and projects. The results of this study group have been phenomenal.

When the study group started last September, many of the parents began with zero credits. Today, as a result of their dedication and hard work, four residents are breaking intergenerational cycles by obtaining their high school diplomas. 

LifeStart Village Staff, Mattea, with graduate, Lynde, and family.

“I have seen a new spark in their eyes. When they complete the final course and get the email saying they have finished the requirements needed, another surge of motivation comes over them. The support from LifeStart and the feeling of accomplishing something big has motivated two residents to continue their education through college…

This is my why.” -Mattea, LifeStart Village Program Coordinator

At this point, two of the LifeStart graduates are signed up for fall classes at Salt Lake Community College. To help them with their new educational goals, community partners, local colleges, and other organizations have volunteered their time to teach parents how to apply for financial aid and scholarships, a task that can be daunting without considerable support. 

Currently, eight other parents are working on their high school diplomas. LifeStart Village is excited to see them increasing their self-sufficiency. For the parents who donned their cap and gown and walked on Friday, June 4th, they are not only breaking an intergenerational cycle for themselves but, we hope, also for their children and for the future they are striving for.