{"id":384396,"date":"2026-07-23T22:22:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/384396\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T22:22:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T22:22:17","slug":"data-with-purpose-h-e-b-community-innovation-scholars-address-pressing-community-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/384396\/","title":{"rendered":"Data with purpose: H-E-B Community Innovation Scholars address pressing community challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Architecture<\/a> major Daniel Hernandez had pored over years of public housing move-out data, but it wasn\u2019t until he was standing inside an Opportunity Home San Antonio<\/a> 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 \u2014 the residents who faced housing instability, financial hardship and difficult life transitions.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeeing 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,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cThey 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The \u2018human side\u2019 of housing data<\/p>\n

The Opportunity Home team\u2019s goal is to identify ways to prevent housing instability before families reach a crisis by using database systems and AI automations.<\/p>\n

\u201cNot affording rent is not the only reason people live,\u201d said Jose Granados, a computer science<\/a> major. \u201cThe environment also plays a huge part in the reason people leave these properties. Data can tell us why people are leaving public housing and the top reasons for it, and knowing this, we can prevent more of these situations from happening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Visiting the properties added context that Hernandez said he could not have gained from a typical classroom assignment or from looking at data alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe experience helped me look beyond the data and understand the human side of the project,\u201d Hernandez said.<\/p>\n

\"ThreeJose Granados, Daniel Hernandez and Aribah Hussain worked with Opportunity Home San Antonio to identify ways to prevent housing instability with AI.<\/p>\n

The Opportunity Home team quickly tackled complex analyses and showed a level of curiosity, communication and commitment that went far beyond the data alone.<\/p>\n

Psychology<\/a> major Aribah Hussain said her team is gaining hands-on experience in coding, AI systems, geocoding software, teamwork, communication, leadership skills and original, out-of-the-box thinking. She said she is enjoying collaborating with students from different disciplines with diverse skills.<\/p>\n

Aiyana Longoria, chief strategy officer for Opportunity Home, said the students exceeded expectations. They quickly mastered the complexities of public housing data while bringing fresh perspectives and genuine curiosity to the project.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese university students look at our data with fresh eyes and no preconceived biases,\u201d Longoria said.<\/p>\n

Closing the gaps<\/p>\n

Another team of H-E-B Community Innovation Scholars is working with ABC of Southwest Texas<\/a>, a nonprofit organization that empowers families of children with special healthcare needs. This collaboration became personal for Kylee Reid, a computer science major who was diagnosed with autism as a child.<\/p>\n

\u201cPrograms like ABC gave my mom the resources to get me that diagnosis, understand what autism was, and connect me with therapists who could help with my special needs,\u201d Reid recalled. \u201cI know firsthand how important it is for families like mine to be assisted and informed to ensure the safety and happiness of children in need.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ABC team is analyzing data to identify service gaps, understand where participants disengage and uncover trends in programs such as autism services and bereavement follow-up.<\/p>\n

\"ThreeKylee Reid, Lyly Vo and Viggo Costilla spend time at the office of ABC Southwest Texas.<\/p>\n

For Lyly Vo, a mathematics of data and computing<\/a> major, the project is strengthening her ability to work with complex datasets, uncover patterns and ask deeper questions.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels different from a traditional classroom setting or assignment because I know these results can have a real impact on the organization and there are no predetermined solutions to these questions,\u201d Vo said.<\/p>\n

By the end of the summer, the scholars hope to deliver a report that provides ABC with deeper insights into the people they support, enabling the organization to better refine and strengthen its outreach strategies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Architecture major Daniel Hernandez had pored over years of public housing move-out data, but it wasn\u2019t until he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":384397,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[82,84,83],"class_list":["post-384396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-headlines","tag-san-antonio-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384396","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=384396"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/384396\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/384397"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=384396"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=384396"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=384396"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}