Family Success Center

Address 

1029 S. Preston Street  

Description 

The Family Success Center supports families and youth by enriching their family life. We provide year-round educational and social development opportunities for children. This includes after-school and summer programming to elementary and middle school students. The FSC serves children who live on our campus and those in the neighboring Smoketown and Shelby Park areas. The space is designed for children and their parents with the goal to build family stability and create a learning culture on campus and within the home.  

Facility 

The FSC is a two-story building consisting of 11,550 square-feet. It features a large lobby area, a full court gymnasium with several roll-top doors which open to the outside playground, a computer lab, work rooms, such as an art and music room, a homework room equipped with laptop computers, and a commercial kitchen for providing meals and teaching culinary skills. 

Support 

We believe a key component in breaking the cycle of poverty is providing parents and children with the tools necessary to experience a better life and brighter future. Roughly one-third of the students served are McKinney-Vento eligible. This means they are considered homeless due to a lack of having a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence and could be sharing housing with others or living in shelters, motels, trailer parks, abandoned buildings, parks, and train stations. In order to serve these families, we offer many opportunities year-round for students to have structure, stability, and a safe space to be enriched.  
 

The FSC engages parents so that they become more informed and empowered as parents, a key factor to each child both in their personal lives and in their educational success. The Family Success Center’s after-school program is Monday through Thursday from 3:30 to 8:00 p.m. We also host summer programming for seven weeks, which includes partnering with JCPS and Evolve502 for a “Backpack League” summer camp, as well as hosting our own summer programming.  
 

The FSC’s main goal, especially for its elementary students, is to shrink the educational gap by maintaining or improving a student’s grades and helping each student get on grade level for reading, math, science, and other school subjects. We track goals and outcomes for elementary students to maintain or improve grades, read on grade level, and increase in STEM knowledge. Curriculum guides students’ creative thinking skills, curiosity, and self-esteem. Programs include tutoring, athletic programs, and enrichment workshops such as art classes, interpersonal communication, robotics, and cooking classes. 
 

Our partners include Dare to Care, which operates a Kid's Café onsite, JCPS, Evolve 502, and several others during out-of-school time programming such as Bricks 4 Kidz, Brain STEM, Financial Literacy by Nedra Young, Speed Substance, Speed Motivation, Kentucky Science Center, Dragon's Path School of Martial Arts, art/theatre with Faith Works Studios, and music from Kidsview Louisville. We continue to look for other uses at the FSC and are now hosting free income tax preparation for our clients and those in the community through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.  

The FSC opened in September 2014. The building was originally built and dedicated as a new Thrift Store & Warehouse Operations in October 1992. However, in 2014, the Thrift Store & Warehouse Operations changed locations to make way for the FSC. The total cost of renovations was $1.2 million, which was completely funded through private donations, with individual donors and foundations supporting this cause.  
 

This project was pursued because of an increase in on-campus housing. Leading up to the FSC opening, we added a total of 54 new permanent affordable housing units—East and West Family Apartments, One Bedroom Apartments, and Waypoint House—which brought additional children living on our campus. As the campus expanded in Shelby Park, it was conducive to support not just single men and women, but families right in our own backyard. We currently have around 60 children staying on our campus every night.