Years ago, while going to school at North Arkansas College, Kim Paul-Williams found out about a scholarship for single parents. She applied, received the financial aid, and found a supportive community that understood the challenges of being a student and raising children without a partner.
Today, Kim is on the other side, cheering on single parent students as the program manager for Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund’s Ozark West Region, covering Baxter, Boone, Cleburne, Newton, Searcy, Stone, and Van Buren counties. Since 2017, she has guided single parent students as they navigate higher education and reach their career goals.
“As a former recipient, I love helping students, just as I was helped,” she said. “It is a mission that is truly near and dear to my heart because I know how much this program helped my family have a better life; it means a lot to be able to help other single parents do the same.”
Learn more about Kim in the Q&A below!
Kim loves her family, including her grandson.
Kim Paul-Williams, ASPSF Program Manager, Ozark West Region
City: Harrison in Boone County
Hometown: Harrison in Boone County
First day at ASPSF: Nov. 7, 2017
Education: Associate Degree from North Arkansas College
What do you do in your role?
As program manager, I wear many hats. I work to recruit students to apply for our scholarship, review their applications, work with them to get all their required information uploaded by the deadline, interview students, and serve as mentor/counselor/encourager for our students. Also, I build volunteer teams in my seven-county region. This encompasses recruiting, training, and keeping them informed of regional business at monthly meetings. It would be impossible to do all the work it takes to make this program successful without our amazing volunteer teams. I also do a small amount of fundraising and maintain donor relationships.
What three words best describe you?
Positive, encouraging, and resilient
Fun fact about yourself?
I am a HUGE prankster. One of my brothers and I always tried to outdo one another on April Fool’s Day. He got me pretty good one year, even made me cry. The next year, I got great retaliation: I placed an ad in the classifieds with his home phone number, stating he wanted as many cats as he could get. When he got home that evening, his answering machine was full of offers for free cats. Message after message was offer after offer, and for several days, he got calls from people wanting to give them their cats. I must have “WON” because there have been no further retaliatory pranks!
What’s your proudest accomplishment?
Being the first person in my immediate family to earn a degree, and raising four great children as a single mom.
Share a favorite ASPSF student story!
After nearly eight years here, there are so many student stories, and I love them all. I have seen a lot of changes in the organization and encounters with our students, which led to a lot of smiles, laughs, and tears as we hear our students share their stories. I have watched them grow into confident, educated, hardworking men and women who fight hard and have grown tremendously by participating in our program and utilizing our support services, attending our workshops, and thriving in their field of study.
Best advice you’ve ever received?
Don’t judge a book by its cover. Each person is an accumulation of the events of their life; it is worth digging below the surface to find the person inside.
What are your hobbies?
I love to listen to books, cook, and grow flowers and plants. In the past, I was never able to keep anything green alive, but now I have several house plants and a wide variety of outdoor plants and flowers.
