The Reno Housing Authority is proud to announce the 2024 graduating class of Start Smart, an RHA Youth Workforce Development Program.
The Start Smart program began in 2021 and aims to help students enrolled in RHA housing programs develop important post-secondary skills including leadership development, financial literacy, academic and social growth, and more.
Five students whose families are enrolled in RHA public housing or rental assistance programs will accept more than $60,500 at this event to use toward post-secondary plans.
“This program helps prepare students moving into adulthood as they acquire skills that will serve as guiding lights throughout their life,” says Dr. Hilary Lopez, RHA executive director. “RHA is proud to provide our residents with the supports needed to promote self-sufficiency and build generational wealth.”
Unlike most other housing authorities, RHA is uniquely able to provide this program because it’s one of the original 39 U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development designated Moving to Work agencies. The MTW program, established by Congress in 1996, offers a limited number of high performing public housing authorities the opportunity to propose and test innovative, locally-designed approaches to administering housing programs and self-sufficiency strategies. Start Smart is one of those initiatives.
This class of graduates is followed by 16 more potential graduates in the programs future.
