
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 26, 1995                   TAG: 9507260028
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: LESLIE TAYLOR
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

6 IN PUBLIC HOUSING GET COLLEGE AID

The Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority awarded academic scholarships to six residents of subsidized housing Tuesday, an effort to encourage self-sufficiency, self-esteem and self-determination.

Since 1983, the housing authority has given scholarships to residents of subsidized housing who have been accepted by or are enrolled full time at a college or university.

This year, the agency awarded two $4,000 scholarships and four $1,000 scholarships. Judging was based on academic performance, community service, goals and financial need.

Recipients of $4,000 scholarships were Leda Marcell Sapp, a Virginia Western Community College business administration major who plans to transfer to Virginia Tech or Radford University; and Taheerah Ni'mat Muhammad, a high school senior who will enter Morgan State University in Maryland in the fall as a political science major.

Sapp, who lives in the Lincoln Terrace public housing community, and Muhammad, who lives in Section 8 subsidized housing, will receive $1,000 for each of the next four years. This is the first year the housing authority has awarded two scholarships of that kind.

Recipients of $1,000 scholarships were: Chuong Hong Nguyen, a Virginia Western student majoring in radiography; Kenneth Dewayne Burns, who will enter Emory & Henry College in the fall as an economics major; Robin Leigh Patsel, an early childhood education major at Virginia Western; and Jennifer Marie Widener, a Virginia Western student majoring in applied sciences.

"We want to help people who are helping themselves," said Neva Smith, executive director of the housing authority. "Scholarships are just one way the authority assists individuals who are seeking an education as a means of achieving self-sufficiency."

by CNB