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Linda Villarreal, Savannah Matos, and Kosha Antala work with a representative from Meals on Wheels as part of the H-E-B Community Innovation Scholars program this summer.
Architecture major Daniel Hernandez had pored over years of public housing move-out data, but it wasn’t until he was standing inside an Opportunity Home San Antonio affordable housing community that the true scope of his work washed over him. During these site visits, the spreadsheets and data models gave way to the real-life families behind the numbers — the residents who faced housing instability, financial hardship and difficult life transitions.
“Seeing the properties in person helped connect the data to real places and real people. It showed me that the numbers tell a much bigger story than just positive or negative move-outs,” Hernandez said. “They show the challenges people face and the realities of living in public housing, so the visits helped me better understand what the data was actually representing.”
Hernandez is one of 20 UT San Antonio students participating in the H-E-B Community Innovation Scholars program this summer. The summer undergraduate program is a collaborative effort between the College of AI, Cyber and Computing and the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County.
Open to students from all majors, the program pairs Roadrunners with San Antonio nonprofits to solve real-world challenges through innovative applications of data science and artificial intelligence. Participants gain career-ready skills by helping local nonprofits increase their organizational efficiencies, leverage their collected data and use it to its full potential.
