Castle Lanterra Properties announced four winners of the firm’s second annual academic scholarship program for residents and dependents living in the company’s properties throughout the East, South, Midwestern, and Western United States.

“One of our key values is to improve the lives of people that reside in our apartment communities,” Elie Rieder, the company’s founder and CEO said in a press release.

“Our scholarship winners this year had incredibly motivating career goals, and it is rewarding to be able to contribute to their success.”

Scholarship applicants were required to write an essay covering a self-identified issue of “personal, local, national or international” concern. Additionally, applicants were asked to provide academic history records and demonstrate leadership, school and community activities, work experience and career goals.

Mary Hale, a senior at the University of Alabama, was awarded a $5,000 scholarship to pursue her studies. She is a dual major – in Early Childhood Education and Special Education – and a resident of CLP’s Heights at Skyland community in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

In her entry essay, Hale wrote about her work advocating for individuals with disabilities.

“I dedicated one week of my student teaching during my junior year to inform my first grade students about different types of disabilities, and how we all may appear differently but are still cut from the same cloth,” she says. “We engaged in a variety of activities that enabled my students to fathom the viewpoints of different individuals with a variety of disabilities.”

As part of its expanded scholarship program, CLP awarded three other scholarships. The recipients are:

• Stacy Novick, a resident at CLP’s Villas Tech Ridge in Pflugerville, Texas, who is studying to become a family nurse practitioner at the University of Texas at El Paso.
• Cheyenne Saldana, also residing at CLP’s Villas Tech Ridge in Pflugerville, Texas, who is studying Communication Disorders at Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas.
• Yolanda Toby, a resident of CLP’s Harbor Pointe in Bayonne, N.J., who is studying Business Management at Howard University, in Washington, D.C.

“Our scholarship winners have very admirable ambitions that will bring positive change to their communities,” said Rieder. “They represent what we strive for at our properties: improving the lives of residents. We enjoy helping residents succeed by supporting them as they advance their education and lay the foundation for their futures.”

Castle Lanterra Properties is a privately held real estate investment company focused on the acquisition and management of quality income producing multifamily properties within strategic growth markets throughout the United States. It currently owns and manages a portfolio comprised of over 8,500 apartment homes and a value in excess of $1.5 billion.