dribbble google rss

Resize Text

Zoom in Regular Zoom out

Youth Programs

SHA’s Farris Mitchell scholarship applications due May 1

SHA’s Farris Mitchell scholarship applications due May 1

Ashley Perez is 21 now, and able to look back on her first year of college with a bit of perspective.

Now a junior majoring in nursing at American International College, Perez said she has much to be thankful for as she works her way toward a successful and productive adulthood. High up on her list is the Farris Mitchell Scholarship she received in 2010, money that paid for her books first semester and relieved her of financial stress at a time when everything was new and nerve-racking.

“I’m so glad I had that help when I first started – it made things much easier for me,” Perez said. “It paid for all my books that first semester, and that was something.”

Perez qualified for the scholarship because she had been accepted to college, and her family receives a federal Housing Choice Voucher, also known as Section 8, for their apartment on Spring St.

Her scholarship was $500. Since then the Springfield Housing Authority scholarship program has grown to $2,000 each year, with two $1,000 awards given every spring to public housing or rental assistance tenants who are accepted to college or higher learning.

The deadline to apply is May 1 for this year’s scholarships.

SHA Youth Engagement Coordinator Jimmie Mitchell with Ashley Perez, a junior at American International College who got her start with an SHA scholarship.

SHA Youth Engagement Coordinator Jimmie Mitchell with Ashley Perez, a junior at American International College who got her start with an SHA scholarship.

Begun in 1995, was named after a man who lived for many years with his wife and 10 children at Riverview Apartments in the Brightwood section of the city. Farris Mitchell, who died in 1994, loved children, and instilled in his children and many others a desire to improve their future through education. All of his children finished high school and many went on to college.

The scholarship is administered by Farris Mitchell’s son Jimmie Mitchell, a retired Springfield educator. The recipient will be chosen by the Farris Mitchell Scholarship Committee, which includes several SHA employees and one or more Mitchell family members.

Jimmie Mitchell is a retired Springfield educator who now works as youth engagement coordinator at the Springfield Housing Authority.

Jimmie Mitchell said the scholarship has been given now to18 young men and women, and all have gone onto good things. Perez, he feels certain, will be an asset to the community as a nurse.

“Ashley is great, that’s obvious, and I’m so glad we were able to help her get started,” he said. “We’ve helped make a difference for so many young kids.”

As for Perez, she keeps busy working two jobs – including one as a certified nursing assistant at a local nursing home – and participates in boxing at the South End Community Center, when she’s not attending classes and doing homework.

Becoming a nurse will fulfill a dream that she’s had since surgery when she was 12.

“I remember how welcoming and nice the nurses were to me. They gave me the best care. They helped me walk again. I just knew it was something I wanted to do,” said Perez, who is a graduate of Roger L. Putnam Vocational Technical High School.

Applications for the Ferris Mitchell Scholarship are available in guidance offices at all city high schools, by writing to Jimmie Mitchell, care of the Farris Mitchell Scholarship Committee, 186 Arcadia Boulevard, Springfield 01118, or by emailing him at jmitchell@shamass.org.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4020 days ago / Youth Programs
Site by 816 New York