Grantee Spotlight: How Muncie Scholar House is Supporting Single Parents
Being a college student is a full-time job. For student parents, it’s double the challenge. Between classes, homework, and raising a child, young parents face enormous obstacles. Ball Brothers Foundation has long invested in efforts to strengthen family resources and improve access to education. In 2024, the foundation began to support a new community initiative that does just that.
Launched by Anderson-based JobSource in partnership with Ball State University, Muncie Scholar House is part of the nationally recognized Family Scholar House network—an organization with a track record of over 20 years of helping single parents complete college, secure employment, and build brighter futures for their families.
With a model built around stable housing, coaching, and life-skills programming, the Scholar House approach directly addresses the biggest barriers that student parents face.
The reality is stark: just eight percent of single parents nationwide earn a college degree—and in Indiana, that number drops to less than two percent. The vast majority are single mothers, and most live at or near the poverty line. Between the demands of school, parenting, and working to stay afloat, without support, only a fraction complete their degrees.
Muncie Scholar House exists to change that statistic. With the strong support of both private funders and state government, the local program launched in 2024 and has already served 31 families. Two other locations in East Central Indiana—one in Anderson and another in Marion—are also serving single parents.
Scholar families receive services ranging from individualized coaching, connections to community resources, and support for their children—known as “Junior Scholars”—through programming and partnerships with local organizations like the Muncie YMCA’s Mitchell Early Childhood and Family Center.
For residential Scholars, the program’s Muncie campus is housed at the university’s Scheidler Apartments. Three scholar-families currently reside in Scheidler and more are expected to move in soon. As the demand grows, there is an opportunity for scholars to occupy up to 300 apartment units in the future.
Family Scholar House’s two-generation model is working: across other sites, 86% of participants graduate from college, and 91% complete the classes they start.
In Muncie, those numbers are beginning to take on names and faces—like Alee's.
Alee’s Story
Alee Quirk found Muncie Scholar House through a therapist while navigating one of the biggest transitions of her life: becoming a mom while still in college. Her son, Haiden, was born during her freshman year—right in the middle of final exams. She remembers cranking out essays from her hospital bed, determined not to fall behind.
As a new mom and full-time student, she was doing everything she could to keep going.
“I wanted to stay in school, keep working toward my goals,” Alee said. “When I learned about Muncie Scholar House and what the organization has done, I saw it as a chance to build a community of support for my family.”
Now a sophomore at Ball State University, Alee is pursuing her bachelor’s degree in architecture—a dream sparked by years of watching HGTV as a kid and completing school projects that tapped into her creative side. With the help of Muncie Scholar House, she realized that dream could become her reality.
The program has surrounded her with a support system that helps in every part of life including: weekly meetings with her Muncie Scholar House coordinator, Briana; guidance from an academic advisor to help her navigate studying and balancing coursework in a demanding major; and monthly in-home visits through Nurse-Family Partnership, where “Nurse Kelli” talks with her about Haiden’s sleeping, feeding, and development.
She and Haiden now live in Scheidler Apartments on Ball State’s campus—an opportunity that not only provides a safe, affordable place to call home, but also allows her financial aid to extend through the full five-year architecture program.
“This program breaks the stigma around getting help,” she said. “They’ve helped me learn how to advocate for myself and for Haiden. And knowing that there are people cheering us on, believing in us, it keeps me going.”
Alee has big goals. She wants to graduate with top marks, launch a career in architecture, and continue being the best mom she can be.
“Alee is a prime example of what happens when you fully engage in the program. What you put into it is what you get out, and we couldn’t be more proud of her.”
—Briana Price, Director for Heartland Scholar House