Most students take for granted that they will have a place to live during the school year. From the Hill to North Village apartments, students have many options, unless they belong to the group that always falls under the radar ““ homeless students, ones with no money and nowhere to go.
Although the Undergraduate Students Association Council and student groups, such as Swipes for the Homeless, have been providing plenteous resources for homeless students, UCLA administrators have been slow to respond. Further, the student groups themselves are currently scattered forces addressing the same cause.
To develop a better system, UCLA administrators should work with student groups to create a stronger, unified program specifically for the campus’ homeless population.
As one unit, they can address all the needs of homeless students, from food to housing to advocacy.
Other universities have programs geared toward improving the state of their homeless populations. For example, the University of Texas at El Paso has an office aptly named Foster, Homeless, Adoption, Resources that works specifically to help homeless students. In addition to providing housing, healthcare and financial aid, the office also has outreach programs to make sure that students in need are aware about available resources.
Even though the Office of the Vice Chancellor at UCLA has established an Economic Crisis Response Team that provides food vouchers, as well as financial and emotional assistance, the team is not specifically designated for homeless students but for the general body of students facing financial hardship.
ECRT coordinator Serifa Hozdic said that UCLA faculty refers students to the team’s office, or if homeless students come across the ECRT’s website, they can refer themselves.
However, homeless students may feel reluctant to disclose their story, often living in the shadows because of the stigmas revolving around homelessness.
On that note, the publicity of the ECRT needs to become more aggressive, actively reaching out to students who need its services.
Thus far, student organizations have taken the greatest burden to directly address student homelessness.
After collecting leftover meal swipes the end of every quarter, Swipes for the Homeless stores nonperishable food items in the UCLA Food Closet, located in the Community Programs Office.
Thach Nguyen, co-president of Swipes for the Homeless, said the organization is expanding its efforts by creating a meal voucher program that would allow homeless students to eat in the dining halls.
Fearing ridicule from their peers, however, homeless students do not always take advantage of the resources available to them.
To combat this negative attitude toward homelessness, BruINTENT arranged campouts in 2009 and 2010, where UCLA students slept in tents to publicize the issue of on-campus homelessness and to raise a $5,000 grant that was given directly to homeless students, said Matthew Spring, former co-director of the organization.
But this year, BruINTENT’s work has become less apparent because of cost inefficiency, said Shahida Bawa, one of the founders of BruINTENT.
The organization is working to create programs that directly provide for homeless students instead of hosting showy and costly events.
If UCLA administrators unite with these student groups, programs that both assist homeless students and bring awareness to their cause will become more efficient, especially coming from a single and consistent source. It will also be easier to establish future homeless-oriented services once a unified effort is set in stone.
According to former USAC presidential candidate Adam Swart, there are plans to arrange a website that will connect homeless students with fellow UCLA students for a place to stay.
But as Nguyen put it, “There are only 13 students in USAC, and you can’t expect them to address everything.”
Beneficial as this program may be, USAC can make the CouchSurfing service even more successful and ensure that it continues in further years if it works with other groups that have similar goals.
Especially with the 8 percent fee hike next fall, there is need for a unified effort dedicated solely to homeless students.