In January of 2010, The New York State Public Housing Authority Directors Association (NYSPHADA), announced that for the first time they were awarding a $1,000 scholarship to a high school senior living in a NYSPHADA member agency. Many qualified candidates applied for the scholarship and the Ithaca Housing Authority (IHA) was proud to hear that one of their residents was the recipient of this award. Ms. Ambria Latham, a senior at Ithaca High School received the award along with donations at NYSPHADA’s annual Spring Conference on May 5th, 2010.
In her application essay, Ambria attributed her success to her mother Donna Lisa Byrd-Hallett who has provided her with guidance throughout her life. Ms. Latham is a cheerleader, a member of the National Honor Society and the African-Latino Club and has a cumulative high school GPA of 3.79. In her spare time she takes part in theatre and local food drives, as well as being a peer tutor. Latham manages to balance school and many extracurricular activities despite working a 20 hour per week job at a local clothing store, a true testament to her work ethic. Ms. Latham will be using her scholarship to attend Elmira College in Elmira, NY starting this Fall. She has kept her major undecided at this moment in order to keep all areas of study open; however, Ms. Latham is very interested in Sociology and maintains an interest in working with individuals who suffer from mental illnesses.
Ms. Latham demonstrates a true scholar who has vast potential to continue toward higher education and thanks to NYSPHADA, that dream has become even more achievable. Brenda C. Westfall, IHA’s Executive Director has stated that she is extremely proud of Ambria’s achievements and the young lady that she has become, and hopes to continue providing more of the organization’s young residents with opportunities to further their education. The IHA would like to congratulate Ms. Ambria Latham and wish her the best of luck for her next 4 years at Elmira College.
