A $4,000 scholarship to attend the University of Berkeley is the beginning of the great future that awaits Barcley Reyes, an 18-year-old son of immigrant parents, in the film industry.

Clad in his white cap and gown, Barcley was one of 180 public housing and Section 8 students who will pursue higher education.

“I want to study filmmaking and media studies,” said the young man. “I need a computer to work on visual programs.”

As a reward for academic effort, Build Hope Inc. awarded $345,000 in scholarships to students residing in homes managed by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) during the 2026 “Pathways to Hope” scholarship ceremony.

Barcley is one of the five children of Gustavo and Ana Reyes: Barcley, Ashley, Matthew, Kalyn and Gustavo Jr. The couple are originally from Retalhuleu, Guatemala. Barcley is the oldest of the brothers and the first to go to university.

“My son has a lot of computer skills and he likes filming,” described Gustavo Aníbal Reyes, 55, a proud electrician from the San Fernando Valley. “I am grateful for the opportunity they are giving you.”

Although he did not make it past first grade, Gustavo Aníbal Reyes first learned English and then Spanish, and with the help of his wife, who graduated from high school, together they were able to help Barcley apply for scholarships.

In fact, apart from the “Pathways to Hope” scholarship, he has already obtained another grant for $15,000.

“Since he was one year and eight months old, they assigned him a teacher at home, because he learned everything very quickly,” said Ana Reyes.

Although living in Los Angeles public housing—managed by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA)—comes with great challenges, families have learned to navigate a lack of funds to send their children to college, limited services, and historic gang activity.

Build Hope, Inc. (BHI) was created in 2002 under the name Kids Progress Inc. (KPI) by the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA). Its goal was to ensure that residents of the city's public housing complexes received all the social, health, educational and employment opportunities to which they are entitled, as well as to improve their quality of life through long-term academic and economic success.

In 2019, KPI was renamed Build Hope, Inc. and expanded its services to encompass HACLA's growing portfolio of properties, including affordable housing residents and Section 8 households.

“Thanks to the computer labs we have in HACLA's 14 public housing complexes, we can deliver mentoring programs, college support, workshops, job training, job placement and scholarships right to residents' doorsteps – and that really makes a difference,” said Jasmine Taylor, CEO and founder of Build Hope Inc., home of the Pathways to Hope scholarships.

From the podium where the nearly 200 students were awarded in the California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) auditorium, Taylor rejoiced as he mentioned that civic, institutional leaders and sponsors were surrounded by the brightest and most resilient leaders of the future in Los Angeles.

“These students are people who build hope,” Taylor said. "We build hope. We do not sit idly waiting for economic change; we design it, we finance it and we build it together with all our communities through every financial aid and scholarship, every improvement in the technology rooms and every internship program we establish. We are building a definitive path out of generational poverty."

In honor of his deceased father

Jade Martinez, 18, is headed to Los Angeles Trade Tech because she wants to become a registered nurse.

“I will do it to honor the memory of my father [Álvaro Martínez],” said the girl, a resident of the “Pueblo del Río” public housing project, located between 55th and Compton streets. “My dad was sick and I couldn't help him get better.”

According to Rocío Ramírez, Álvaro's widow, the man began to feel intense pain in his left arm and his health condition worsened due to liver and lung problems. He died in 2024.

Rocío Ramírez said she was proud of Jade and her other children: Jissele (23), Álvaro (22) and Kimberly (17), to whom she has instilled many values ​​to face life.

“Many people told me that my children would end up being drunks or drug addicts, and I showed them that I could raise them because I was strict with their education.”

“And with the Dodger flip flop!” joked her daughter, who said: “I want to be a nurse because I like helping children; I would also like to be a cardiologist.”

In the City of Los Angeles, approximately 6,300 families reside in the 14 large public housing complexes owned by HACLA. Together, these properties are home to more than 19,000 low-income residents, with an average household size of 2.9 people per unit.

“The scholarships awarded are an investment not only in the children, but in the entire family,” said Cielo Castro, who chairs the board of directors of HACLA. “It is the fruit of all the sacrifice that the families have made.”

Indeed, the sacrifices paid off for adults like Claudia Vera, 55, who lives in the Ramona Gardens public housing project. She was the recipient of a $1,000 scholarship for her studies in the Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) Program, in collaboration with CDTech and the Los Angeles Department of Labor. That same career will be followed by Miguel González, a resident of Avalon Gardens, and Puerto Rican Ashydee Rivera, who lives in William Mead Homes in Chinatown, also recipients of a $1,000 scholarship.