More than 60 people gathered in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Stratton Students Center to celebrate this year’s recipients of the 20th annual Homeowner’s Rehab Inc.’s Peter Daly Scholarship. 

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The scholarship has been running since 2006 and was named after the previous executive director of the organization, Peter Daly, who started it. Homeowner’s Rehab (HRI) develops affordable rental housing throughout Cambridge. 

At the start, the scholarship money was pooled together by residents in HRI’s properties and staff to fund secondary education for residents, giving back to the HRI community. Individual scholarships range between $1,000 and $5,000 and are renewable. Since it launched, more than 230 students have received $2.3 million. 

The money can be used for anything from textbooks to paying off debt to housing. 

Over the years, the applications have increased as well as the number of people receiving scholarships. There were 71 applicants and 68 awarded scholarships this year, many of whom had previously received a scholarship.

Sara Barcan, the executive director of HRI, ascribes this to more outreach by the organization. 

Rose Dania Ferjuste, a sophomore at Boston College majoring in public health, received a second HRI scholarship this year. She views it as something that’s pushed her to succeed. 

“It really shows to me how I’m capable of doing more than I thought I could,” Ferjuste said. “If an opportunity is given to me, I should apply and give it a shot,” Ferjuste said.

Applicants range from 18 years old to older than 50 years old. Around one third of the applicants are over the age of 24. Recipients go to any form of higher education, including public and private universities and trade schools.

Barcan says this is part of an effort to acknowledge that there are multiple paths toward higher education and that age is not a restriction.

“Regardless of how someone’s doing [their schooling], we want to support it,” Barcan said. 

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One of Barcan’s favorite memories from past ceremonies was when a woman came up to her and shared that both she and her son had received scholarships and were pursuing higher education together.

“It was just fantastic to see a mother and son both pursuing their degrees at the same time … and knowing that the scholarship can really help both of them to get there,” Barcan said. 

The event started July 16 with Joe Deignan giving the opening remarks before Barcan spoke about the program itself. Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui took to the stage to honor the recipients. The event also featured Shakeela Darden, one of the first people to have received an HRI scholarship. She recounted her story about how she got into higher education and that her mother and a neighbor pestered her to apply until finally she did. 

She told the audience that a guidance counselor told her to apply to two-year colleges because she wouldn’t be able to get into a four-year college. Darden applied to only four-year colleges and got into all of them. 

“Cambridge is a place where we build people up,” Darden said. 

Amreenbanu Gadatia is a fourth-year student studying biology on the pre-med track at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. This is her third year receiving an HRI scholarship.

She sees the scholarship as an opportunity from her community that allows her to grow and allows her to fund her education without having to take a gap year to save up. 

“I’m really grateful to have this support,” Gadatia said. “My community is always there to rely on.”

After Darden’s speech, recipients’ names were announced and they walked to the stage to get their diplomas from Barcan.

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