Finding His Voice: Meet NYCHA–CUNY Scholar Kenneth Morales

Kenneth Morales has a hard time believing how much his life has changed in the past few years. At 22, he is studying journalism and creative writing at the City College of New York, gaining reporting experience at the Yonkers Ledger.

“If you had told me three or maybe five years ago where I would be now, I would not have believed you,” he said. “In a good way!”

Mr. Morales was recently named a NYCHA–CUNY Scholar for 2026. For him, the recognition (not to mention the support that comes with it) represents one more positive step on an educational journey that began with encouragement from his mother.

He was thinking well beyond a future paycheck. “It is not only about money,” he said. “It is about the experience and the opportunities.”

Raised in the Bronx by his Dominican mother with two older sisters and a younger brother, Mr. Morales describes his mother as the central steady force of his childhood and their home together. As a child, he served as her unofficial translator — English was not her first language. And as he got older, he wanted to find new ways to repay the loving care she had always given her family.

“She was a single mom,” he said. “She always took care of all of us, all at the same time.” He recalls thinking, “I want to grow up to be the man my mother needed in her life.”

School did not always feel like a place where he belonged. Teased as a child, Mr. Morales became introverted, and he struggled with bouts of low self-esteem. But at City College, classes on community involvement, homelessness, and journalism have provided him new ways to see and understand the world – as well as his place in it. He began to work not just on schoolwork but on himself as well, and to seek out opportunities to serve his community. He has become a reporter.

On one early reporting assignment, he joined a cleanup of the Bronx River. For another, he helped clear weeds from a park and then told the story of doing so. These early experiences connected his pure interest in writing with a more practical question: What can journalistic work do for the people and places that story tells the wider world about?

His beat now? Housing policy, zoning disputes, and municipal infrastructure — local government accountability, mostly in Yonkers (for now). The kid who grew up in NYCHA housing is turning his already-extensive experience and expertise toward professional service, and he is a natural. His scholarship essay expressed, clearly and wonderfully, his interest in pursuing journalism rooted in service, fairness, and community.

Mr. Morales credits his City College advisers with urging him to pursue scholarships and internships, advice that he now passes on to other up-and-comers. His advisors’ encouragement also led him to the Yonkers Ledger, where he is building experience as a young journalist-in-training while studying at CCNY.

Mr. Morales is grateful to his family, friends, advisers, and all his mentors for their help getting to this point. He also knows that their encouragement helped drive him to take positive action for himself.

“I have had wonderful help from really good people,” he said. “And opportunities have begun opening up for me. I am excited to see what will come next — and believe me when I say this: I do not intend to miss a thing!”

To learn more about the NYCHA-CUNY Resident Scholarship, visit College Scholarships | OpportunityNYCHA – REES.       
 
To learn about the 2026 scholarship awards ceremony, visit: Celebrating Achievement and Opportunity: 108 NYCHA Residents Receive CUNY Scholarships – The NYCHA ….