Student Spotlight: Deschalyn Riase  

“Going to college helps with upward mobility and will give you opportunities in life.” Those were the words instilled upon a young Deschalyn Riase by her uncle.  

At 19-years-old Riase, a native of Port Huron, Mich., made her uncle’s vision come true by getting into and attending college at Central Michigan University. Riase is entering into her third year of school in the fall majoring in sociology with a focus on social and criminal justice.  

“I have always been driven and passionate,” Riase said. “I always knew I wanted to go to college.”  

One of three kids, Riase said she had a “pretty good” childhood until her parents got divorced when she was in middle school. After her parents split up her father left, leaving her mother to raise three children by herself. The family lost their home and Riase says there was a time she thought her family faced homelessness. With the help of the Port Huron Housing Commission, the Riase family found stability and a home.  

Throughout middle and high school, Riase was a dedicated student maintaining a 4.0 GPA allowing her to graduate magna cum laude. She was also a basketball and volleyball player, helping take her school team to a championship.  

“I’ve always played and watched sports my entire life,” she said. “It’s a fun outlet I have to do with friends.” Riase said one of her biggest supports is her mom, who would regularly attend games to cheer on her daughter. “She has always supported me and told me to chase my dreams and let me excel in whatever I do,” Riase said.  

With the guidance from her uncle, who Riase says stepped in as father-like figure for her growing up, she was motivated to apply and attend college after graduating from high school.  

With her academic and extracurricular achievements, Riase was selected as a 2021 NAHRO Merit and NAHRO LDG Scholar.  

The NAHRO Merit College Scholarship awards $1,000 each to eight scholars, one from each NAHRO region, who are pursuing their first post-secondary degree. The regions’ scholarship applications are then judged by the NAHRO Scholarship Committee, which is comprised of Housing America Advisory Committee members.  

From these eight scholarship winners, the NAHRO Scholarship Committee chooses three candidates to become a part of the NAHRO-LDG Scholars program, which is a 10-year venture that will provide $1 million in scholarships and internship opportunities to low-income students from around the country and is funded by the award-winning multi-family housing developer, LDG Development.  

Riase remembers waiting eagerly all summer to learn the news if she was selected as one of the scholars.  

“I was just praying that I would get the scholarship,” Riase said. “[The scholarship] made a difference in my ability to afford college and elevate the financial burden of me having to take out loans or work and now I can just focus on my studies.”    

Despite starting college during the COVID-19 pandemic which caused some courses and social activities to go virtual, Riase said she is enjoying her classes and making new friends.  

When she is not studying for finals, Riase is volunteering with a student-organization which aims to support college students become more active in voting and learn how to make informed decisions as they vote in elections.   

In addition to being a NAHRO scholar, Riase is also CMU Multicultural Advancement scholarship recipient, which is awarded to students who have demonstrated a commitment to academic achievement, community service, enhancing diversity, multiculturalism, and inclusion. As part of her scholarship, she was encouraged to write a speech based on a prompt about a book written by Martin Luther King Jr. in which he talks about the “beloved” community. Riase’s speech was chosen, and she presented it during a ceremony put on by her university.  

“I had the opportunity to read my speech out loud and I was really nervous about it because I have never spoken to a crowd,” she said. “It was a really rewarding experience to tell people my thoughts about being loved and how to be agents of change and help a society and have love at the focus of what we do.”  

As Riase readies for the summer, she said she is hopeful to work with the housing authority she used to live at, assisting in any way the agency needs it. Her mother was able to purchase a home earlier this year, allowing the family to move out of the housing authority. But Riase says she wants to continue to give back and help in any way she can.