Student Spotlight | Genesis Gardner, The Palladian

April 28, 2017

In 2000, the Alabama Affordable Housing Association (AAHA) created a scholarship program for residents of member-owned apartment properties in Alabama. The scholarship funds are donated by the owners, contractors, architects, accountants, property management companies, investors, lenders, developers, and various vendors that make up AAHA's membership as well as other non-member individuals. Since its inception, the AAHA resident scholarship fund has awarded more than $500,000 in scholarships.

Meet Genesis Gardner of The Palladian Apartments in Mobile:

Gardner was one of 51 students awarded an AAHA scholarship for the 2016-2017 school year. She is using the funds to help pay for her freshman year as a pre-med student at the University of South Alabama. "I'm just starting out on this journey," she said.

She applied for the scholarship after hearing about it from her mother, assistant manager of The Palladian. Gardner said the scholarship would enable her to focus her energies on her studies without the worry of paying for it all.

"The beginning of the college journey can be overwhelming at times," said Gardner. "The last thing you really want to be thinking about is how you are going to fund your education."

Gardner, along with the other 2016 scholarship winners, was honored during the 2016 AAHA Annual Conference. She said, "This is a blessing to all of the people to want to further their education...to not have to worry about that aspect of going to college."

For more information about the resident scholarship program, please contact Arrice Faught, AAHA's executive director at [email protected] or 205.331.8668.