NYCHA-CUNY Scholar: Hope Vaughn 

For Hope Vaughn, the path of higher education began in earnest during her time living in a family shelter.  

Joined by her son – who was 11 years old at the time – Ms. Vaughn had been working part-time, but she knew that the best way to get out of the shelter, support her family, and secure a sustainable career was to further her education.  

“I made the decision to start school while I was in the shelter,” recalled Ms. Vaughn, a NYCHA Section 8 participant who now lives at Spring Creek Towers in Brooklyn. “It pushed me to get into something where I could help people.”  

After nearly two years in the shelter system, Ms. Vaughn was able to take a significant step toward that goal when she received a Section 8 voucher to move into stable housing. A short time later, she began taking classes at the Borough of Manhattan Community College, where she eventually earned an associate degree. 

Ms. Vaughn continued her college journey at York College, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in sociology. Now pursuing a law degree from CUNY School of Law, the Brooklyn native was recently named a 2022 NYCHA-CUNY Scholar, along with a record 70 other scholarship recipients. 

On October 14, after two years of virtual celebrations, NYCHA held an in-person awards ceremony at its central office in Manhattan, where Ms. Vaughn received one of the 35 Amazon Scholarships. The new scholarship, which was funded by a grant from Amazon, provides NYCHA residents and Section 8 participants at CUNY colleges with $1,000 for education-related expenses such as tuition, books, and fees.    

“It was good to see all of the other scholarship awardees there as well,” Ms. Vaughn said of the in-person celebration. “It was wonderful, and I was shocked that I received the scholarship.”  

Proud of the strides she has made in recent years, Ms. Vaughn recalled how she entered the temporary shelter after the Work Advantage program assistance she received was discontinued. The former NYC Department of Homeless Services program provided rental subsidies to working individuals who qualified, but when the assistance ended she could no longer afford rent.   

Among the various struggles of shelter life, Ms. Vaughn said she witnessed disparities between minority groups that motivated her to pursue higher education and a career dedicated to helping others. 

“It was temporary, but I knew I had to do something because I didn’t want to be on that type of assistance permanently,” she said of the shelter experience. 

Despite the challenges of living in a shelter, Ms. Vaughn shifted her focus to applying for schools while also working part-time and taking care of her young son. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Ms. Vaughn received the boost she needed when she obtained a Section 8 housing voucher from NYCHA through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program.   

“It meant so much to me because I was ready to leave the shelter and I knew it was time to leave,” recalled Ms. Vaughn, who served in the Army for four years as an administrative specialist.   

Moving into her own apartment not only provided some stability and a less stressful environment, but it also allowed her to have a private space to study for her college classes, which she began shortly after leaving the shelter.  

“It definitely brought me so much peace of mind,” she said of her new home. “Being in a shelter was very stressful, and to try to attend classes and concentrate on the things I needed to, it would’ve been more stressful for me.”   

Thanks to a stable home, support from her family and others, and a commitment to her education, Ms. Vaughn became a first-generation college graduate when she earned her bachelor’s degree in 2019. A year later, she began attending law school, inspired by those who fight on behalf of the less fortunate. She expects to graduate in May 2023 and hopes to work as an attorney for housing justice or employment/labor law.  

Pointing to the class of 2022 NYCHA-CUNY Scholars, who have faced a variety of adversities while pursuing college aspirations, Ms. Vaughn said: “The situation you’re in does not define who you are. These scholars prove that when you put your mind to it, you can achieve what you want to achieve.” 

To learn more about the NYCHA-CUNY Resident Scholarship, click here.  

To see the full list of 2022 NYCHA-CUNY Scholars, click here.