Best-Selling Author, Alumna Cara Brookins to Keynote A Day of Hope
Arkansas Single Parent Scholarship Fund (ASPSF) will welcome former scholarship recipient, author, and internationally recognized speaker Cara Brookins as the keynote speaker for its fourth annual A Day of Hope fundraising luncheon Sept. 18 in Little Rock.
Brookins is best known for building a two-story house alongside her four children in 2007 using YouTube tutorials on how to lay block, frame walls, and run plumbing and gas lines. Her family’s unconventional home-building brought her global attention as a best-selling author and keynote speaker.
Years prior, Brookins received a scholarship from ASPSF for the 1995-96 academic year while pursuing an associate degree at Arkansas State University-Beebe. More than 30 years later, she will share her story with ASPSF and help raise funding for today’s single parent families.
“I’m proud to give the keynote address and honor an organization that once believed in me so fully,” Brookins said. “I could not have attended college without the financial help. I was in such a difficult spot then that [the scholarship] made the difference for me. And from an emotional perspective, feeling seen, valued, and supported as a single mom made me believe a degree was possible.”
Brookins continued taking one or two college classes a semester until 2017, upon which she received her bachelor’s degree in technical writing from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock. Brookins said the decades she spent pursuing her degree helped show her children the importance of education, too.
“Cara’s story embodies the extraordinary things that can happen when a single parent has the support and opportunity to build a better future,” said ASPSF CEO Jenn Morehead. “Her journey is a powerful reminder that our investment in Arkansas students can have an impact for generations, and it is exactly what events like A Day of Hope represent.”
A Day of Hope will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, Sept. 18. Hosted at Next Level Events, located at 1400 W. Markham St. in Little Rock. The luncheon will bring together ASPSF partners, scholarship recipients, alumni, and community members to celebrate single parent students and the supporters who make their success possible.
Speaking alongside Brookins at the event is scholarship alumnus CJ Summerville. Summerville earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Central Arkansas in 2018 while raising his two young sons. He has since earned a master’s degree in education, and now teaches math at Conway Public Schools.
“I wanted my children to see that it’s never too late to learn and improve,” Summerville said. “Research shows that children who have parents with college degrees are more likely to receive an education themselves. I wanted to give them every advantage I could.”
Each year, ASPSF honors select partners that have provided exceptional support to the program and its students. The 2026 Outstanding Partner Award recipients are:
- Outstanding Community Partner: Bank OZK, recognized for its financial contributions to ASPSF, including grants and in-kind donations, as well as professional development workshops provided to scholarship recipients across the state
- Outstanding Education Partner: North Arkansas College, recognized for its ongoing work alongside ASPSF to champion single parents pursuing postsecondary education
- Distinguished Alumna: Bailey Hutcheson, a 2023 ASPSF graduate from Arkansas State University-Mountain Home, for giving back to the program by volunteering and donating
Tickets to A Day of Hope are $75 through Sept. 10 and $100 beginning Sept. 11. For more information or to purchase tickets, visit ASPSF.org/Hope. Presenting sponsors include Carol and Witt Stephens, The Rebsamen Fund, and Tiger Correctional Services.
