A Bonner Scholar at HOME
On the very first day of her internship with Housing Opportunities Made Equal of Virginia (HOME), Melissa Pacaja felt a different kind of nervousness. She’d had jobs and internships in the past, including a semester working with fourth and fifth graders at Peter Paul, but something about this experience was different.
This wasn’t a short-term role. It was an internship she would carry with her for the rest of her time at the University of Richmond.
"I was so incredibly nervous. I genuinely was like, 'Wow, I'm gonna work in a real adult place,'" Pacaja said.
Little did Pacaja know that she would quickly begin to build community and feel at home in her new role.
"Everyone was so kind. Everyone was like a family," Pacaja said. "That support that I was met with the first day, that helped me adjust and helped me just enjoy going in."
Pacaja is a second-year Bonner Scholar from New Jersey. Last semester, she began interning with HOME, a nonprofit organization based in Richmond that fights housing inequities.
"HOME is ensuring that everyone has that equal opportunity to understand the [housing] process and to eventually be able to afford their own home, or just own their own home," Pacaja said.
Pacaja interns in the Counseling, Housing, and Education Department, where she handles record-keeping and court searches. Collaborating with other departments on policy and communications projects, Pacaja helps make housing information more available to HOME’s clients.
"You can't necessarily offer someone a house, but you could definitely help guide them towards achieving that goal," Pacaja said.
Pacaja was immediately drawn to HOME’s mission. Several issues are close to Pacaja’s heart, but she wanted to take the opportunity to learn more about housing inequality, something she hadn’t thought much about before applying to intern at HOME.
"I just wanted to take that opportunity to learn more and then help others learn more," Pacaja said.
Emilia Hodal, Pacaja’s advisor with the Bonner Scholars Program, speaks to the breadth of Pacaja’s passion and curiosity. According to Hodal, it’s this range that makes Pacaja a great fit for HOME.
"She has such a variety of interests, and HOME works in such a variety of ways that the organization really does have a lot of different opportunities available for student interns," Hodal said. "She's in a good place, because she can really live into her passion and dedication and desire for a variety of experiences."
As a political science major, Pacaja has found it valuable learning about housing inequalities, especially the history of redlining in Richmond and how it has affected housing affordability, quality, and what schools children attend.
"I've really enjoyed learning about how exactly housing works in Richmond and in Virginia, and how that expands, and how we see that across the country," Pacaja said.
Being a Bonner Scholar has also taught Pacaja what it means to be an active member of one’s community. She says the program has equipped her with increased mindfulness about how she is interacting with different communities.
"It's not just like, 'I enter this space, and I'm gonna do this and do that,' but it's like, 'How do I enter this space? What is my purpose? How am I going to ensure that I'm adequately providing help to others and not partaking in any offensive activities or taking space that is not [mine] to take?,'" Pacaja said.
Just as important to Pacaja is the community she’s built within the Bonner Scholars Program. Though the college environment was difficult to adjust to at first, Pacaja values the friendships she’s created during her time at UR.
"I've genuinely found people that are so devoted and passionate about their work and who I'm grateful to call my friends and who I've been able to spend time with," Pacaja said.
Pacaja’s close friend, Santiago Reyes Martinez, is a fellow Bonner Scholar. He has seen firsthand the effect that Pacaja has on her community.
"She has always brought a kind of energy, in a way, to the meetings and interactions that she is having. She is always someone positive to talk to and someone easy to talk to," Martinez said. "That energy in general is the thing that impacts the Bonner community."
Through relationships with her peers and her work at HOME, Pacaja has developed an understanding of what it means to be a Bonner Scholar.
"Bonner just signifies community engagement," Pacaja said. "Having a community in school and on campus, but also elsewhere, and learning about different issue areas, learning from others through their work, and then having the opportunity to teach others."