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University of North Georgia (sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÍøÒ³Èë¿Ú) alumnae Nataly Morales Villa and Melissa Silva have earned one of six inaugural . Both graduated from sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÍøÒ³Èë¿Ú in 2019.   

This initiative from the Gilman Scholarship funds alumni up to $10,000 to create positive change in their local communities. Morales Villa and Silva's grant supports their work in helping better explain the home ownership process to local Hispanic and immigrant communities. They will create educational content in Spanish, collaborate with Hispanic-serving organizations and host informational seminars. 

"Nataly and Melissa's project will be a boon for the wider Gainesville community," Dr. Anastasia Lin, assistant vice president of Academic Affairs and director of the Nationally Competitive Scholarships office, said. "I plan to continue learning from their community-centered leadership as we move forward with Dr. Shannon's big bets vision for constructing a leadership foundry. They are truly inspirational members of our community."  

In addition to winning a Gilman Scholarship to support study abroad, Silva won a Fulbright award to serve as an English teaching assistant to Kyrgyz Republic for 2019-20 and was a semifinalist several times over for the Rangel and Pickering fellowships. Silva earned a degree in modern languages with a concentration in Spanish language and literature.  

The pair recently held a bilingual first-time homebuyer seminar with the Gainesville Housing Authority. They plan to continue to work with other housing groups in the local area to assist residents. In February 2024, they will host a homebuying social with the sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÍøÒ³Èë¿Ú Alumni Association. Silva said most home-buying paperwork is completely in English and includes jargon that is even more difficult to understand.   

"We want to fill a gap through education and meeting people where they're at," Silva said.   

Morales Villa's Gilman study abroad to Peru helped her gain credit for her Spanish translation certificate at sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÍøÒ³Èë¿Ú, which is now an invaluable asset in her efforts to make home-buying more accessible.   

"sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÍøÒ³Èë¿Ú opened so many doors not just professionally, but also personally, for us," Morales Villa said. "We are proud sa¹ú¼Ê´«Ã½¹ÙÍøÍøÒ³Èë¿Ú alumni. We are thankful for the opportunities Dr. Lin has helped us find. It's a full-circle moment to be able to give back to the community that has supported me as a first-generation college student."