NEWPORT, Ky. — Two organizations are showing the power of collaboration as they break down barriers for single parents pursuing higher education.

What You Need To Know

  • Brighton Center and Neighborhood foundation partnered in 2015 to create Northern Kentucky Scholar House

  • The program provides affordable housing, child development services, and case management support to single parents trying to achieve higher education or a certification

  • The two organizatiosn celebrated more then 100 degrees and certifications earned by residents since the start of the program

Mother of four Diana Kelly says once her children are dropped off at day care, she’s ready to work.

“On a day-to-day basis. I usually spend about anywhere from two to six hours working,” she explained. She is working on her doctorate in social work at the University of Kentucky.

Kelly is a Northern Kentucky Scholar House participant, a program created through the partnership of Brighton Center and Neighborhood Foundations, that provides affordable housing, child development services and case management support to single parents trying to achieve higher education or a certification.

She said through doing research on how to better herself and her children, she discovered the program and was selected to move in Nov. 2023. 

Northern Kentucky Scholar House site houses 48 apartments with access to child care on the same campus, keeping rent at only 30% of a resident’s income. 

“I’m in the doctorate program, not really able to work full time. So it really gave me the resources, and the extra support as well with like, the child care in the case management, to really be successful in my journey,” she shared.

In celebration of the many women and men like Diana that have come through the program, Brighton Center and Neighborhood Foundation hosted an event, highlighting more than 100 degrees and certifications that have been earned by residents of the program since its opening in 2015.

While many people contribute to the success of the program, Kelly credited much of her confidence and comfortability to case manager Kelly Peters.

“We believe and having a two-generational program that helps not just a single parents, but also their children as well, so that while the parents are getting their education, their children are also getting their education as well. So that way we can break the cycle of poverty,” Peters explained.

Many members of the community came out, including Newport Mayor Tom Guidugli, who declared June 11, 2024, as Northern Kentucky Scholar House Day in the city of Newport.

Kelly says that she and all the residents in the program before her are proof that all you need is to believe. “Every step that you make toward your goal is success, no matter how small or big it is,” she shared.

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