LYNN — The Lynn Housing Authority & Neighborhood Development (LHAND) announced on Thursday its Annual Scholarship Fund has awarded close to $445,000 to Lynn high school seniors since its creation in 1998.
The fund seeks to help graduating seniors from Lynn’s high schools by awarding scholarships to help students prepare for college and succeed in their future endeavors. On average, the fund awards more than $30,000 in scholarships a year. In the spring of 2021, $36,000 was awarded to 30 students.
Charles Gaeta, the executive director of LHAND, thanked supporters and donors for keeping the scholarship fund running for almost 24 years, and staff who help volunteer with the Golf Tournament Committee.
“We are thankful for our generous supporters who continue to participate in our annual outings and assist in the effort to raise funds as well as the LHAND staff that volunteer to run the tournament year after year,” said Gaeta.
To celebrate this milestone, LHAND reached out to four scholarship recipients and provided an update of what they have done over the past year.
Zion Taylor, who received a scholarship from LHAND in 2021, currently attends New England College in New Hampshire. He is majoring in business and is considering a major in health science.
When Taylor started college, he admitted that he was nervous due to the unknowns and expectations. Now he is enjoying college and is interested in starting his own business after he graduates.
Brooke Warren, another scholarship recipient said she is currently attending Emmanuel College. She is studying biology with a concentration in health sciences. Her love for science led her to join Emmanuel’s College biology club.
After college, Warren hopes to attend a physician assistant program to become a PA. She said one of her favorite aspects of Emmanuel College is how close she is to Fenway Park.
Unlike Warren and Taylor, who both went to schools in New England, Carlos Prudencio, another scholarship recipient, attends American University in Washington, D.C. Prudencio is majoring in international relations and hopes to work in the human rights branch of the United Nations.
Scholarship recipient Geneliz Herrera also chose a school outside of New England, Xavier University, located in New Orleans, La. Herrera said she is very much involved with her campus life and is currently double majoring in political science and Spanish. Her goal for the future is to join the Peace Corps, specifically in helping South American landowners better manage their land by adopting sustainable agricultural practices that benefit both the environment and the economy.
Herrera’s first week of college was an eventful one, as she and her peers were sent to Texas to wait out the storm brought by Hurricane Ida in August 2021.
Still, Herrera and the rest of the LHAND scholarship recipients can confidently say that they are moving up in the world one step at a time and it all started with a helping hand from their city.
