Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Hello, I'm April Wallace, associate features editor for the Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette. Today we're speaking with Single Parent Scholarship Fund of Northwest Arkansas. For 40 years now, single parent has been encouraging the personal success of single parents in the region by providing not only scholarships to educational institutions, but holistic support system that addresses the challenges faced by single parents in the area. Today we'll be speaking with Tyler B. Clark, president and CEO of single Parent Scholarship Fund, as well as Elizabeth Roman, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas.
With me today in the studio is Tyler B. Clark, president and CEO of the single parent Scholarship Fund of Northwest Arkansas. Hello, Tyler.
[00:00:55] Speaker B: Hi. Thanks for having me.
[00:00:56] Speaker A: Thanks for being here. Also joining us is Elizabeth Roman, a graduate student at the University of Arkansas seeking her master's in social work. Elizabeth is a graduate of the single parent scholarship fund and a current recipient as well. Thanks for being here, Elizabeth.
[00:01:15] Speaker C: I'm honored to be here. Thanks for having me.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: Well, we are taking a look at single parent scholarship today because they are in the process of celebrating 40 years as a nonprofit organization. So for multiple decades, they've been encouraging people in the community through their personal success providing not just scholarships, but individualized support systems. And so we're just here to learn more about that. So, Tyler, would you mind describing for people who have never heard of single parent scholarship, what it is and what it provides?
[00:01:50] Speaker B: Well, again, thank you for letting us be here today and talk about our history, which started in 1984 with two co founders, one in Benton County, Marge Marug Wolf and then Ralph Nesson in Washington county. And they both saw the need for single parents to, especially that time in 84, single moms who were needing some services from both of their agencies. So respectively, EOA and Office of Human Concern, a lot of their clients were single moms and just weren't able to make ends meet because they didn't have a higher education and they weren't able to provide enough for their families. They were using a lot of services through EOA and office of Human concern. So they got together in their own communities.
Misses Wolf went to her friend Helen Walton, and Ralph went to his friends in Washington County, Miss Pat Walker and Bernice Jones, and started collecting money and board members and friends who wanted to see this become a reality. So the first inaugural semester, we awarded about $250 per person, five people in Washington county and five people in Benton county. And we've grown exponentially over the last 40 years, as you can imagine, because the population has grown, the need for single parent help has grown. So we are on the precipice of 21,000 scholarship recipients over the course of this time period, and then a little over $17.8 million awarded to our recipients. So, as you can imagine, this has taken on a life of its own. You know, in 84, it was just a group of folks, but in 1992 is when we became officially a governance 501 c, three nonprofit, and the organization's only had three executive directors, CEO's. I'm the third.
And we are just blessed to have the community support that we do and the understanding of what importance it is for single parents to have that leg up, to be able to support their families. So, you know, we see a wide variety of folks that come to us now. We have men in our program, which is wonderful. We have five this semester and the summer semester.
And not only are we doing traditional scholarships, but we're also offering so traditional, I mean, by associates, bachelor's and master's programs, we actually even have some doctorate programs.
So maybe a doctorate in your future, hopefully. But what we'd love to see is our ability to follow people through their entire college career.
And we've seen that success not only through the recipients, but through the children and the, the program as well. So last year alone, we had 221 recipients, but 435 children. And what the children in the program are seeing, and hopefully Elizabeth is seeing this with her own children, encouraging this next generation, that college is within reach and that truly for many, many of our folks in the program, breaks that complete cycle of poverty and makes that a reality for the families. Plenty of stories of recipients studying with their kids, the kitchen table homework, and encouraging each other and helping each other study. So we'd love to see that opportunity as well.
And, you know, what we see with our program is a little different than most scholarship programs. We help people enroll, so they enroll in a course of study, and that can be, again, I mentioned I traditional scholarships, but also we offer credentialing and certifications too. So one of our biggest certifications and credentialing programs is in the medical field. So think of medical assistants, phlebotomist, x ray tech, pharmacy tech, medical coding and billing. So the people that you probably come in contact the most with when you're in the medical system. And with Northwest Arkansas becoming the new medical corridor of the state and the region, we see the need for that and also Covid hurt our, really hurt our medical system. A lot of nurses retired, a lot of folks just were just tired. And so what we started out about ten years ago, so what we see are people getting a credential certification and then coming on with an associates and a bachelor's. I even have a doctor's student MD in UAMs, and I have two doctoral students in the U of A. So if we have the funds to fund those we do, they're not our priority. We fund our undergrads first and our certifications first.
But we've had people follow us again, my MD, the MD that we've gotten the program, he's followed us since his associate's degree. So it's really, really cool.
[00:06:56] Speaker A: That's really neat to see. Well, could you tell me a little about the importance of a higher education and why it's so central to.
[00:07:05] Speaker B: Well, number one is income. We see a significant raise in income for our single parents. So when they come through our program, they apply, they give us information about their income. So last year, our average income for a recipient was about $9,500 per year.
Yes, $9,500 per year. If you could see your face, April's face, you would probably are doing making the same face. But six months to a year after graduation, they're at $35,000. So it's a 243% increase in their income that could be life changing for their family. That means they're hopefully working a full time job with availability of full time insurance. 73% of our recipients do work either full time or part time already. So, you know, our opportunity is for them to become more gainfully employed and more valuable to the company that they are working for. I know Elizabeth eventual, she'll tell about her eventual plans after she graduates. But that's what the pivotal part is, is really being not only a social service, because of the services we offer within the program itself, and then the ability to give the scholarships for them to use the funds any way they see fit. So that's kind of unique about our program. They don't have to use that necessarily towards a scholarship, towards tuition or books. They can use that for rent, utilities, transportation, childcare, which is on the rise. Of course, we also know the cost of living is very high right now just across the United States.
And then they can use Pell grants and other things to get them through school or Arkansas scholarship lottery. So we really help them access those particular things. So that's been the beauty of our program, is they have that ability to use their own judgment. Because Elizabeth is not alone in her ability. She knows what's best for her family. We don't need to dictate that.
[00:09:08] Speaker A: Right? And so you open it to all of those things because they're all interconnected. You're probably missing some work to go to class, and you probably need a babysitter while you're there. And so it's all kind of tied together.
[00:09:22] Speaker B: Absolutely. And, you know, we're so we have scholarship program managers who work with our recipients, and it's based on the county they live in, and they help them. They'll do a check in about four weeks into their semester just to make sure everything's kind of firing on all cylinders. If it's not, let's try to fix it. If there's a class that you're not, you're struggling in, let's try to get you a tutor.
If you're struggling. Generally, we have a behavioral health therapist available for free in our office.
You know, and then what are, what can we connect you with at your school as well? So we have 24 institutions of study that are approved for our recipients to attend. So a wide variety of opportunities for our single parents to succeed and should be that supportive services as well. And I like to think of us as an economic developer. Obviously, we're putting people up in higher positions, pay, and just changing the trajectory of their world. And here's the thing.
We provide, obviously, financial support and some guidance, but it's all up to them. They have to have the desire and the tenacity, and they all do to make this process work. And that's what I love about this job. I've been doing nonprofit work for 23 years, and this is one of the first positions that I've had to really watch someone grow and blossom and come in and change their world for them and their family, and they're not doing this to get rich.
Elizabeth's in social work. She's not going to be a rich social worker, you know, unless she's going to be Brene Brown, which I hope you might be.
But, you know, it's to really just do better for their family, do more for their family and, you know, again, make that opportunity for a second generation of education and reach for them, their family.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: Okay. Well, Elizabeth, I'd like to shift a little bit to your story.
How did you learn of single parent scholarship fund? And could you tell me a little of what life was like before you became a recipient and you know, why you wanted to seek higher Ed?
[00:11:40] Speaker C: Yes, of course. So first off, it's an honor to be here. Thank you so much for having me here.
I found out about single parent because I was in the healthy families program, and basically that's a home visiting program. For teen parents. I became a teen parent and found myself in a situation where it wasn't realistic for me at the time to go to college.
I barely graduated high school, so I did everything out of chronological order. I guess you would say I had a child first, then I got married and I went to college. But I found out through that program, healthy families, and I really wanted to go back to school.
The thing is, and to bounce off what Tyler said, you have to have the tenacity and do it for yourself.
You have to make yourself accountable. But it wouldn't be possible without single parent because that financial support is huge. I mean, you can want to go to college and figure out what you want to be and what you want to do with your life. If you don't have, you know, how are you going to get that money to do so?
And sure, you can take out loans and things like that, but the beautiful thing about single parent is it's not just financial either. It's the emotional support.
We had a group of, like an encouragement group going at single parent, and so it was great to be a part of that. And alumni get together at the single parent because I also was part of the alumni. Well, and part of the alumni. And it's great to see everyone's success story and the single moms out there, the single parents that are out there, and that didn't think it was possible or realistic. And now they are in the position where they are. And that's all thanks as well to not only ourselves, but to single parent for making it possible.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: And so you got to know other students and see how things were going for them and maybe tell them what you were experiencing.
[00:13:48] Speaker C: Yes. And be like, lean on each other, because it's not easy to juggle work. Most of us have an internship, volunteering, being a parent, juggling everything and still getting good grades and making sure you graduate on time, it's not easy to balance that on your plate. So hearing, what do you do? How do you do it? What do you do for self care?
Just the little things. And having somebody to just rely on to also make yourself accountable, but also give you tips and tricks to keep yourself, maintain yourself stable. So another great thing is having a behavioral health person there to staff. They're a single parent because everyone knows that mental health, at least getting that help is not a, you know, very cheap, it's very costly. And that's mostly the reason why.
Not just the stigma, mental health, but that in general is just harder. It's a. It's a barrier. So having that for free, those services, and for your children, your children can come in and you can do family therapy. That's incredible.
[00:15:03] Speaker A: Absolutely. So when you applied, what was your. And what was your hope, or what was your big goal to see at.
[00:15:10] Speaker C: The end of it, to graduate and become successful. I am a first generation college student. My parents didn't even finish high school. So for me, it was big to have that big diploma at your office that you can look at and feel proud of. So my parents always said that your degree is something that nobody can take away from you. You know, you earn that. So that title, I don't know, it feels good to do it because I never, if you would have told me this when I was 19, pregnant, I would have said, no, that's. You're funny. That's unrealistic. But now, living it out, it's incredible how much time has flown by and how much experience and learning over the years. Growth.
[00:16:04] Speaker A: Yeah. So tell me about, you know, going through school while your kid is watching you do everything that you've got to do to meet those requirements. How do you explain to them, you know, what you're. What you're doing? Exactly.
[00:16:23] Speaker C: It's tough because when I entered school, like, for example, in WAC, it was in 2016. So my daughter was small. She was like a year old.
Couldn't really understand why I was gone so much to class. But as she's older, I did tell her how important it is to do something out of your life, to become somebody and to follow in those footsteps.
I think a thing that we should be more upspoken about is mom. Guilt is just guilt. As a parent, there are days, there are crying days where you just sit in your car and you're like, am I doing the right thing? But I think at the end of the day, at the end of the. When you're done with your program, whether that's undergrad, grad, or even your associates, you look back and think it. It was worth it. And even though right now my daughter is about to be nine years old, and she tells me, oh, you're going back to school. And I'm like, yes, I want to be able to buy us a house one day, because right now I live with my parents, and it's the best thing right now while going through your master's program. But it does get a little small, and I realize we do need our privacy and stuff, so it's nice to work towards those goals because I'm not doing it for nothing. I'm doing it to give us a better and a stable life.
[00:18:00] Speaker A: Tyler, could you speak more to the added services beyond the scholarship? You mentioned the behavioral health, but as far as part of your press release mentioned, kind of customizing it to the person. How do you do that?
[00:18:16] Speaker B: Absolutely. Well, every person, every major is a little bit different. So before you even come onto the program, there is a pre interview with an applicant to really kind of understand what their goals are for their future. We do an assessment tool called Wowie. It actually helps recipients text a test, essentially, and says, okay, these are your strengths, these are your weaknesses, but this is probably your potential landing point for your education, and this is what it might pay. And these are the jobs in your area that were opened recently. So it gives us a good roadmap there. And then the application process, they go online and via their mobile phone, tablet or computer at the office or anywhere else, submit their application, and that's reviewed. Then we go to an application process with, been through this a couple times with a group of about five or six people, volunteers. And I think that's where a lot of the magic happens in our sauce, if you will, that the people in the room that are listening to the story, and we ask, what's your plan? Tell us about your kids, et cetera. We learn a lot about a recipient that way. And then there's a lot of feedback given from the interviewers. Like, I have a gold star board member who said, I'm gonna go with you to get you a raise, because you deserve a raise at the job you're currently working at. And, but so that the four week check in is very important with our program scholarship managers just, again, making sure that it can be a very lonely place.
And we have several recipients that have, you know, come to northwest Arkansas to escape abusive relationships or just a whole new start.
You know, some families aren't as accepting and or supportive as probably as Elizabeth's family is. And so they're truly on their own island. So what other support can, can we get them? Making sure they're connected to child care vouchers, etcetera.
But the behavioral health program is really a cornerstone of what we do because there is, you're making a huge change for your family, and so there is some impact for their children and themselves. So as Elizabeth mentioned, we can do individual child, children's therapy. So small children, teens, and then adults as well. Our counselor is certified and all of that. And we'll see about, gosh, 2400 visits a year. So it's pretty big and then we have a dry pantry service. So our volunteers give us things that are usually not on snap benefits. So you think? I think laundry detergent, toothpaste, toothbrushes, paper towels, toilet paper, feminine hygiene products, those type of things that, you know, when we're at Walmart, we're just throwing that into our cart and not thinking about that price. You know, a big tide of pods is like $26.
So what I love to see is our recipients are coming in and shopping, quote, unquote shopping in our pantry, and they're able to save that money to put towards meals for the week or, you know, put that maybe in some savings or something. So, you know, we're seeing, on average, about 46 recipients come through that program each month.
And, you know, that's the cost and the value of that program is about $2,000 a month. So between the donations we get and the budget we spend towards that, and we've seen a slowdown, unfortunately, since COVID and donations from corporate donations because of they don't have offices open, so they don't have the product available necessarily. So we really rely on our volunteers, and our volunteers have really answered that call.
[00:22:19] Speaker A: Now, for someone who wants to donate to a single parenthood, can they donate these sorts of items that go in the dry pantry, or must it be monetary?
[00:22:30] Speaker B: No, actually, we even have a link on our website for the pantry. That is a drop ship. You can pick things from our Walmart wish list, an Amazon wishlist as well, and it can be drop shipped to the office and we just stock the shelves. You get a tax receipt, of course, for your donation.
I love it when banks and other places get in competition with each other branches, especially trying to raise as much product. So, you know, it really hits us hard right after Christmas because a lot of families are spending everything they have on making sure their kids have a, you know, a Christmas. So we're always in big need around those times, those times in summertimes, too, because kids are home consuming more stuff because they're kids, more snacks and stuff. And the thing is, we, what I believe over the last seven years as the CEO is that there are so many nonprofits that are doing a lot of great things. So we can't offer everything to everybody, but there are lots of things that we can do very well. So with those outreach things we do with the pantry and the counseling, plus we do a backpack day where the kids come through, drive through, get to pick out a backpack full of supplies. Plus we give dollar 100 scholarship to the family for them to go during tax free weekend to go shopping, to buy anything that maybe wasn't included in the backpack. You know, the average back to school costs now, I think nationally is like $1,100. Time you think about, like, haircuts and shoes and clothes and all those things, and that's just not within reach for our folks. I know we're not making a huge dent, but we're providing some stuff. And then we do give another scholarship in this spring as well, January.
So because crayons break and kids have outgrown their shoes, probably. And so another $100 scholarship for that as well. So that's become very popular.
It was. It's now become a drive through since COVID you know, we had to kind of socially distance, but now it's worked out really, really well. Everyone kind of drives through our office. The kids last year was big. Mario was huge.
I don't know what will be big this year.
We'll see when we start buying backpacks, what will be available. But the kids will point from the car what kind of backpack they want. And we're luckily connected with a vendor who helps us get some discounted prices and then collects back to school supplies for our kids as well. And then we do a holiday dinner for our families where they can get a family portrait. A lot of our families haven't had a portrait together in a long time, and so it's a professional photographer.
And then we offer. One of my favorite programs is the Empower summit. So it is a full day conference for our recipients, everything from time management to networking to financial assistance, those type of things that would probably not be on the mind of a recipient in the middle of their. Their time in the program. We incentivize that, and then we actually help pay for childcare stipends for them to be able, because they're usually working during that time. So we don't want them to lose income, number one. And number two, they got to find someplace to put their kiddos for the day. So we do that at the Joan center from nine to three in the fall. And we've really had some really interesting things come out of that. We always have alumni speak.
They've walked that walk before. And so for them to speak to our current recipients about their successes and their trials and tribulations, because it's not easy through this process. So the panel is always emotional and great. We always have a motivational speaker come in. We usually do a stress someone talk about how to relieve some stress. The staff definitely takes advantage of that, too.
But yoga, whether it be just kind of selfdevelop, you know, being self mindful to themselves, and, you know, you gotta find a break when you can.
And then one thing we really emphasize is that you communicate with your professors, whether you're going to NWAC or anything else. Say, you know, I'm not looking for special treatment necessarily, but I am a single mom. You know, I'm on the single parent scholarship fund program.
And what that usually does is, especially those who are going to nine classes are like, well, if you need to bring your kid to class one night, you can, you know, and this really go over the syllabus really well. And so our, all of our scholarship managers are career certified counselors so they can after graduation. So we have a program called the Gap program Gap.
And what that allows our recipients or our former recipients to do is remain on our service so they can continue to get pantry items and counseling services because they may not have a job just quite yet, but it's called, well, I call it choose your own adventure. So let's say the recipient, you know, like, I really need to work on my resume and my LinkedIn, how to make sure they look the same. And then we also incentivize that by offering that once a quarter dollar, 250 goes to the recipient. And so by the time they're done, they have $1,000 of more funds they can put towards whatever they need to. We also do grade point average scholarships for our full time, part time, and three quarter time recipients, and our recipients are soaring. They're averaging 3.33 jpa, and they're doing great, great work under immense pressure. I wish I had that motivation when I was my, especially freshman year in college.
They're killing it every day. And sometimes when life happens, and they're not killing it, they've got the scholarship program manager to lean on. And then Carrie, our chief program officer, who's been there 22 years, she knows all the tips and tricks to help out. And as I mentioned, the tutoring is outside. We have a rental assistance program for someone to get if they need to help, to pay, maybe some rental assistance for down payment. And then we also have a technology scholarship as well. So again, we can't do everything, but we do do our best to help out when we can. And we recently did an evaluation of our services, our program services, and, you know, the programs we offer, what people are aware of and how often they're using them. So we've got some internal communication to do to make sure everyone knows. But Elizabeth can attest to. We have a new student orientation, new recipient orientation every time we start a new semester, and we're giving them a ton of information, and, of course, half of that stuff goes away. Cause they're just, they're gonna register class in a couple weeks, you know?
And so we remind our recipients in a bi weekly newsletter about, these are the services we offer. This is what's happening. And one thing I love about our community, this is northwest Arkansas, too, to a t, is that we'll get free razorback tickets. We'll get free tickets to the Walton Arts center. We'll get free tickets to theater squared, crystal bridges, the botanical gardens of the Ozarks, stuff that our recipients, you know, maybe can't afford to do, but they need that break from school. The kids are, you know, like, we got to do something. You know, maybe they can't take a summer vacation, those type of things. So anything we can do to just make the load a little bit easier, we look at. And the same thing with schools, too. As I mentioned earlier, we have 24 institutions that we approve. Let's say Elizabeth came in and said, hey, I really want to go to Drury University, which is based out of Missouri. Well, if it's got an online program and it meets our criteria, we'll be happy to approve that program. Well, Drury actually moved in physically into northwest Arkansas, too, so Elizabeth's not on that program. But just as an example, we will consider programs. Someone comes into us and says, yeah, I really want to do this, because they offer a maybe physical therapy program that I want to go to eventually. You know, we look at it, make sure it's credentialed correctly, and add it to our approved school list.
[00:30:58] Speaker A: Oh, very good.
Well, those are all fabulous services, and I'm so glad that you walked me through them. I would love to learn some about the events that you have planned. You have a number of them, and so I know we're familiar, certainly, with the holiday event, but would you take me through Spark of Hope and the other two that you have?
[00:31:20] Speaker B: Yeah. So Spark of Hope is our oldest event, actually.
It has been around almost 38 years and used to be hosted in people's homes, but now we've expanded to a larger facility at the Rogers Convention center. It's coming up on July 25.
And what we do there is we honor the legacy of what we're doing, especially this year. We're honoring the legacy of our founders, who are both deceased, unfortunately. But we also honor people that have contributed to our organization. So individual, outstanding individual folks will be Shannon and Terrell Ortigo. Corporate sponsor will be. Corporate recognition will go to Archexco and Ozarks Electric. And then community spotlights will be on the the United Women in faith out of Bella Vista, which is wonderful. So it's kind of. It's a semi gala, it's business casual. We have a very cool event. But what we add in there is recipients and alumni speak. And then my favorite part about this is that we have either alumni or recipients. Children are also interviewed on stage, which is always. I always hold my breath during it because I don't know what's gonna be said, even though we do practice a little bit. But it is so organic and so lovely to hear about how they watch their parents come through this program and what they saw. And some are shy, but then they open up a little bit because they're in front of 500 people on stage, which is lovely. And then we hear from alumni and a recipient as well.
And then coming up in October, golf Tober festival is our traditional miniature golf tournament. Everyone assumes it's a full golf tournament, but it's a miniature golf tournament.
[00:33:16] Speaker A: I kind of love that, actually.
[00:33:17] Speaker B: I know we were the original to come up with that. And actually that kind of came out of a program where we actually invited our recipients and board members to come out and play for free. And it really just expanded into an opportunity to help fund our services. So all the programs we, all the fundraisers we do are funding our programs. So golf Doberfest runs for two weeks at not only the Fayetteville Gator Golf, but also Lowell Golf Mountain.
And you have those dates right in front of you. They're off my mind right now.
[00:33:55] Speaker A: October 5 through 20.
[00:33:57] Speaker B: Yep. And then we have Gulf Toberfest VIP, which is at top golf Topgolf, which has been such a really cool opportunity. I don't care if you've been there once or 15 times, it just, every time you go, you're playing. It's really, really cool. So we have some corporate teams that come and do that.
And that date is.
[00:34:16] Speaker A: That is October 11 11th.
[00:34:18] Speaker B: Yes. And then the first Thursday in December is jingle Mingle, which is December 5. That's at Heron Crest. That's our holiday celebration and actually one of our most popular events. So we're busting at the seams at Heron Crest. But it's such a beautiful facility if you haven't seen it in Springdale. It overlooks Elmdale Lake and the way the Christmas lights sparkle off the lake. And we always have a jazz trio. And it's really meant it's a mingle event. It's not heavy in program, we just have a recipient speak and, and of course we have an opportunity for people to give and we serve delicious food and just a really cool time. You know, our events are very chill. It's not very professional to say, but are very, you know, relaxing. And we want all of our recipients are invited to come with a guest because that's what we do. You know, you don't, you know, we want them to feel included and invited. And I, that's a great way to network. I know that a lot of our alumni, a lot of our folks that have graduated from our program have found jobs because of coming to those events. And, you know, it is oftentimes, you know, a little overwhelming to come into a, you know, a room full of 500 people and, you know, you're not used to, maybe used to networking like.
[00:35:38] Speaker A: That, but then you have your friendly faces there that can kind of facilitate. Yeah, well, very good. I'm looking forward to these. Now, was there anything that I didn't ask you that you wanted to make sure that I knew about? Single parent Elizabeth, how about you?
[00:35:56] Speaker C: We have like a legal aid.
[00:35:58] Speaker B: Oh, yeah. It's a really cool event. Yeah.
[00:36:00] Speaker C: So helpful.
[00:36:01] Speaker B: Yeah. So legal aid of Northwest Arkansas has come in a couple. It comes in once a year and helps with power of attorney and wills and different things. And then we're looking for, looking forward to an event. Maybe later in the fall there will be a family law event. So just another opportunity for our recipients to save some money and take care of some things that maybe they've neglected to or whatever the case may be.
And we're always looking for those unique partnerships and opportunities.
With the 2500 nonprofits in northwest Arkansas, we're constantly referring people to people that can help do great things. Arkansas 211 is a wonderful resource, of course, but we partner with dress for success, the University of Arkansas business closet for, you know, dressing for new jobs or interviews, those type of things.
And then CCOA credit accounts of Arkansas bank of America is a partner for us for some financial assistance and questions about maybe buying a new car or maybe saving for their first home. Arkansas 529, the college savings program.
So just, I hope after 40 years we've kind of developed this well rounded circle. And I do want to remind people in the listing area that we serve, Washington, Benton, Carroll and Madison county. So one of our larger institutions that we serve is actually in Harrison, not very far from obviously, Madison, Carroll County, Northart College, and they're such a great organization. And they have a campus in Barryville, but they also have a campus, obviously, in Harrison. They have a business college. They have a vo tech as well. And then they have a general studies program as well.
But JBU is huge for us. University of Arkansas. But number one, obviously, is the community college. And I would love to point out, too, is that our top four major studies is nursing education, social work, and medical professions. These are helping professions. Our recipients are not looking to get rich. They're looking to give back to the community.
And fifth is business, which is my degree. So it's a great degree. It's very versatile. So what we're seeing now, and we're starting to address is that maybe people have an associate's degree but are kind of stuck in a position and can't get ahead. So kind of not upskilling, but reskilling, if you will. There's a great program in town called Upskill, and we work with them. They do mostly nursing professions, et cetera, but really helping people get unstuck in some of those programs.
[00:38:52] Speaker A: Well, very good.
Remind me of the website. That way people can find you and apply.
[00:38:58] Speaker B: Yeah, the best website is spsfnwa.org or simply Google single parent scholarship fund, and it'll pop up. That's probably the best way. And with a username and password, you can, once you start it, you can log on with a username and password and go back on anytime and continue. And we always encourage people, if they have a question about the scholarship application, to call us, you know, because there may be a question that they may not have an answer to and may have it later. So our next deadline is June 15, and that is for our fall semester. So that is usually our busiest semester. And, you know, we want to see as many people apply as possible. My board of directors said we'd love to see 40 brand new recipients come in. And I said, well, we're going to try to do that. So it's a great cause to support. If people are looking forward to maybe sponsoring an event, we have opportunities for that. For all the events I mentioned previously and are just, you know, after 40 years, I wear my badge pretty much, you know, Walmart and everywhere I go, and people are thinking, what's that program? And so I hand them a business card, and there's always someone that has someone in their family or someone they know that could really use our services. So if you know someone in your civic group, church group, anything that might use our services, please refer them and we're happy to come speak to any of those groups as well and help spread the word about what we're doing. We need as many ambassadors as possible, and we're always looking for volunteers as well.
[00:40:36] Speaker A: Okay, very good. Well, Tyler B. Clark and Elizabeth Roman, thank you so much for joining me today. And best of luck with the 40th anniversary celebrations.
[00:40:46] Speaker B: Thank you. And we hope to see everyone there. April, we appreciate you.
[00:40:49] Speaker C: Thank you.
