What We Do
SPARC Hope serves single parents struggling to make ends meet and who are willing to make the extra effort to secure the future for themselves and their children. We are also a liaison between resources and services for single parents in our community. SPARC Hope is not welfare or charity, but rather a hand up. Our goal is to uplift the Spiritual, Physical and Emotional needs of single parents. We want to empower single parents to seek a better quality of life through pursuing higher education, allowing them to become self-supportive through a new career. We understand the road to the American Dream is often full of obstacles, ones we are willing to help tackle with our parents.
How We Began
Bob Cherry, the Senior Pastor of Northeast Christian Church, challenged 100 members with what he called a Kingdom Assignment. The Kingdom Assignment in short: Take $100.00 and change the world. When Sheila Day received her challenge she ultimately felt that God was laying single mothers on her heart. Her first step was to send out 50 letters asking friends and family to match her $100.00. She wound up receiving $15,000 back. With that, she rented her first space which would become Mom’s Closet Resource Center (MCRC).
Since its humble beginnings in 2003, MCRC has changed and grown into a multi-faceted program. Since July 23, 2019, SPARC Hope, formally MCRC, dedicated the mission to helping single fathers and mothers to help break the cycle of poverty in their own families by encouraging single parents to engage in higher education. We at SPARC Hope believe the only way to become independent is to strive for excellence through education.
To read more about our story and programs please see our informational booklet.
Why We Continue
In 2019, MCRC decided to undergo a re-brand. We made a few important changes. One being our name, SPARC Hope (Single Parent Resource Center) and the other to make it more known that we do in fact serve single fathers and single mothers in the Kentuckiana area. Our last name did not convey who we helped or what we did for our community. Our purpose is to continue to provide support, encouragement, and guidance to single parents in the pursuit of identifying life choice options that will enhance their opportunities for career advancement and independence. With our re-brand, we hope to continue to reach more people in communities that were not aware of our services and to help create a better quality of life for parents and their children.