Where You Are Is Where We Start

Heartland Scholar House is an education program. The goal is a degree. The goal is economic independence. The goal is a single mother who finishes what she started and changes the trajectory of her family for generations.

Housing is one way we get there, but there is so much more.

We meet Scholars at every stage of that journey. There are three ways to be a Scholar:

Pre-Residential

A Scholar who has a higher education goal but is not yet enrolled full-time and is working toward program housing. Life has barriers in the way, such as, housing instability, finan

cial pressure, childcare gaps, and safety concerns. A Pre-Residential Scholar works weekly with a Family Advocate to identify those barriers and address them one by one. As she approaches academic readiness, she is paired with an Academic Coach who helps map the path to enrollment and stay the course. This stage takes as long as it takes, sometimes six months, sometimes two years. The goal is a foundation strong enough to focus on academics.

Non-Residential

A Scholar who is using Scholar House services but is not seeking program housing either because she has stable housing of her own or because housing is not her primary barrier right now. She receives the same wraparound support: family advocacy, academic coaching, life skills workshops, and access to the Scholar House community. The education goal is the same. The path to it looks different.

Residential

A Scholar who is enrolled full-time in an accredited college or trade program and lives in Scholar House housing with her children. Rent is subsidized. Support continues. The barriers that used to derail everything are no longer in the way. This is where degrees get finished. The housing made it possible. The degree is the point.

For every one Residential Scholar, approximately ten women are in the pre-residential or non-residential phase, working, stabilizing, and preparing. The work at every stage matters.