College-bound: Warrior Homes of Collier awards scholarships to local veterans, family members
The Floridant/10282965

NAPLES, Fla. - Floridant -- Four Collier County students with military ties are the latest recipients of $5,000 college scholarships from a local nonprofit dedicated to helping veterans find stable housing — while also providing mental health and educational support.

The Warrior Homes of Collier Scholarship recipients include several recent high school graduates and a Navy veteran who served in the Persian Gulf War and is now pursuing a master's degree in industrial psychology.

The 2024 scholarship recipients are:

-Ayden Abreu, a 2024 Lely High School graduate now studying aeronautics at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida. The son of an Army veteran and grandson of a Marine, Abreu is an Army ROTC member who after graduation hopes to serve in the military as a commissioned officer.

-Ali Lagergren, a 2023 Community School of Naples graduate who now attends the Wilkes Honors College of Florida Atlantic University, where she majors in biological anthropology and plans a career in forensics. She is the daughter of an Air Force veteran of more than 20 years.

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-Marc Michel, a case manager at the David Lawrence Centers who spent four years in the Navy after his 2011 graduation from Palmetto Ridge High School. Michel earned his undergraduate degree in psychology from Florida Gulf Coast University in 2023 and is now pursuing a master's degree in industrial psychology from Keiser University.

- Hazel White, a first-year student at the University of Central Florida's Burnett Honors College studying computer science. White attended Lorenzo Walker Technical College in Naples; their father is an Army veteran who served in Vietnam.

The scholarship process, including the selection of awardees, is overseen by the Collier Community Foundation, which annually awards $1.5 million in scholarships to Collier County students on behalf of and alongside generous donors from more than 100 local organizations, including Warrior Homes of Collier.

The award holds particular significance for Michel, 32, a native of Haiti who vividly recalls a 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people in his homeland — a natural disaster to which the U.S. Navy was summoned, setting in path Michel's own decision to serve after he immigrated to this country later that year.

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Michel is on track to earn his master's degree in December, with plans to next pursue a doctorate degree and continue working with veterans. In his current role, Michel counsels several residents of Warrior Homes' Alpha House, a short-term, transitional residence for those in recovery from substance abuse.

For more information about the scholarships, including details on how to donate, visit https://colliercf.org/scholarships/.

The foundation's scholarship applications for the 2025-26 school year open Nov. 1, with a deadline of Feb. 5, 2025. https://colliercf.org/scholarships/apply-for-scholarships/