SPARC HOPE
Local Non-Profit Provides Resources to Single Parents in Need Writer / Noelle Tennis Gulden Photography Provided
SPARC (Single Parent Resource Center) Hope has changed considerably since its founding as Mom’s Closet Resource Center (MCRC) in 2003. What began as a simple clothes closet to help single mothers dress for job interviews has grown into an organization focused on helping single parents - both mothers and fathers - seek a better quality of life through higher education. It all started when MCRC Founder Sheila Day responded to a challenge she received from her pastor: Take $100 and change the world. Day felt that God had placed single mothers
on her heart. Her first step was to send letters to 50 people asking them to join her in this challenge by matching her $100. She received $15,000 in response. With that money, Day rented her first space and began serving single mothers through a clothes closet. Not long after MCRC opened, Day added a food pantry to the clothes closet - but according to current Executive Director Laura Wingfield, Day “began to feel like she was giving a handout instead of a hand up.” It was then that Day came up with the program that changed the very heart of the organization. With the creation of the Life Plan program in 2005, MCRC shifted its focus from
handing out clothes and food to providing “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,” according to the SPARC Hope website. In addition to receiving personal, professional and educational support, Life Plan program participants may also receive help with rent, utilities, water and other needs. They have full access to the food pantry, as well as clothing through the organization’s consignment shop partnerships, household items, discounted car repair and more. “The goal of our Life Plan program is to
34 / JEFFERSONTOWN MAGAZINE / AUGUST 2021 / TownePost.com
