Neighbor News
Seventeen students receive scholarships from HFV residents
For 24 years, the residents of Henry Ford Village have been supporting their student staff with scholarships of $5,000
Seventeen High School and college students working at Henry Ford Village senior living community were recently awarded academic scholarships by the community’s residents.
Providing $5,000 awards as well as endowed scholarships supported by residents, family and board members of Henry Ford Village, the Scholar’s Program provides financial assistance for up to eight semesters for each student.
The nearly 1,000 residents of the senior community and 140 high school and college-aged students employed by Henry Ford Village, the scholarship program represents not just financial support, but the conviction and confidence of one generation towards the young people that have worked at The Village during their high school and/or college terms.Students—a mix of current attendees and graduates of Dearborn High, Fordson High, Allen Park High, and Riverside Academy—worked a minimum of 500 hours during a two-year period, provide a detailed essay, and were nominated by a Village resident.Working in one of the community’s three restaurants, students have often experience their first employment, while residents of the community provide friendship, guidance and genuine interest in the lives, academic pursuits, and success of the young staff members. It is for that reason residents created the Scholar’s Program, to help assure ambitions and academic pursuits are met.“The scholarship program is symbolic of a much deeper relationship, an investment in the next generation of young adults in our community,” said Village Director Bruce Blalock. “We have enjoyed being a part of their youth, their maturity to adulthood, and their success and growth in both.” The scholarships provides recipients with financial assistance for up to eight semesters. In addition, Village residents have also organized several endowment scholarships that require an advanced application process and specific areas of study, including healthcare, education, and the STEM fields.“I could never fully express the impact that every resident had on my journey through young adulthood. It was those deep meaningful conversations that truly gave me a glimpse of life,” said Zeinab Hassan, a past scholarship recipient. Zeniab, a former music student of resident Clara Rogers, recently returned on Mother’s Day to perform a special tribute concert at the community.“I would tell the future scholars to take advantage of this time, to truly listen and learn from all the incredible residents that reside at Henry Ford Village because that is ultimately the best gift that anyone can ask for,” said Hassan. She applied her scholarship towards her degrees in Music Composition and Nursing at Wayne State University, and just recently got accepted into the Doctorate program for Midwifery at Frontier University.This year’s ceremony was highlighted by State Representative Abdullah Hammoud, a Henry Ford Village Student Scholar Alumna. As a former student scholarship awardee, Hammoud, spoke to the newest scholar recipients. He encouraged the scholars to not only have passion and conviction to find and achieve their dreams, but to cherish their journeys. “You’ll probably be on the road to discovery and not even know it, but those are the greatest journeys of our lives,” encouraged Hammoud.“HFV is not just a place where I go to for my job,” wrote 2018 scholar recipient Nadine Srour in a letter of thanks to The Village. “It is also a place where I receive more knowledge and education about everyday life. I've learned optimism, patience and goodness from each resident. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for allowing me to partake in this amazing opportunity.”
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