The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) hosted its 4th Annual Scholarship Awards Ceremony and awarded sixteen (16) students from multiple housing developments academic scholarships towards pursuing higher education. This fall, scholarship recipients will attend a wide range of schools such as UCLA, Woodbury University, UC Merced, ELAC, LA Harbor College and Cal State Northridge.
Selected scholarship recipients were required to attend a scholarship workshop prior to the Awards Ceremony, where students were invited to HACLA to hear several speakers and learn about Pathways to Careers, Transition to College, Financial Literacy and tips on resume writing and job interviews. Jason Cordova from SoCal College Access Network shared his experiences and provided insight into transition to college along with two past HACLA scholarship recipients, Bonny Alvaragena and Leslie Bullock; Linda Vasquez from The Campaign for College Opportunity provided internship, fellowship and other experiential learning college opportunities; Danny Zelaya from Merrill Lynch spoke to the students regarding the importance of financial literacy and money management.
During the Scholarship Awards Ceremony, HACLA recognized Saskia Pallais, Regional LA Executive Director from College Track. College Track recruits students form underserved communities and works with them from 9th grade all the way through college graduation. The 10 year program is designed to guide the students towards achieving their degree and to provide comprehensive academic support, leadership training, financial and college advising. Many of HACLA’s public housing youth participate in the College Track program. Marcie Chavez, Director of LA Public Housing, HUD, Chairperson, Ben Besley, Vice Chairperson, Dr. Erica L. Jacquez, and Commissioner Lucelia Hooper attended the Awards Ceremony.
“I am the first in my family to go to a university and know that I hold enough in me to strive towards the Bachelor’s Degree in Engineering I always dreamed of. I learned early on that giving up is not going to earn me a degree in my desired field of study, but continuously working hard and embracing my independence will”, shared one of the scholarship recipients, Uriel Castillo from Rancho San Pedro. In his passionate speech, Uriel spoke about the challenges he faced growing up in a public housing development and his desire to pursue higher education to not only improve his life, but the life of his entire family.
HACLA is very proud of all the scholarship recipients and wish them the best of luck on their continued success. Congratulations to all of our scholarship recipients!
Click here to see profiles of all scholarship recipients and here to read Uriel's full speech.