"I can write about anything!"™

 

 

 

Public Housing Association’s Advocate newsletter, April 26, 2006, issue

Did you know there are college scholarships for young people living in public-housing developments? Neither did I, until I was asked to write profiles of three 2006 recipients by a colleague who “knew” me through an e-mail discussion list. Do most people even think of kids in public housing as college material? Probably not. That made this assignment even more appealing to me – I’m always thrilled to be part of organizations that do good and I love to spread the word about young people who achieve against the odds.

Interviewing the three recipients of PHADA’s 2006 scholarships was a wonderful experience. I hope I’ll be interviewing them again in a few years, to tell the world how well they did in college and in life. Here's a little sense of what these kids are all about.

 

Scholarship recipients embody achievement and commitment

The recipient of PHADA’s 22nd Annual Stephen J. Bollinger Memorial Scholarship is a self-described “go-getter” with ambitious goals.

“When I found out I had received this scholarship, I started shaking and crying because it meant so much to me,” said Belinda Annette Flores … Living in public housing “has helped me grow into a responsible, dedicated individual” and prepare for college… “It has been very difficult living in low-income housing, but I have not let that discourage me …”

“Living in public housing was not easy … but (we) never thought (of) ourselves as less than anyone else,” said (Shawanna) Wright. “What mattered to me was my education.”

Nathan Turner … who has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair, is grateful to public housing. “Public housing provided my family and I with opportunities that, otherwise, were not attainable,” he said.