SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- Each year, many San Jose State students struggle to find adequate and affordable housing, prompting students to sleep inside their cars and forcing others into homelessness.
But after years of urging university leaders to step in and help, a new program aims to address the needs of students facing housing insecurity.
“We know that there a lot of unique dynamics about the Bay Area housing market, we just heard it's in the top five most expensive housing areas, we also know that the rent moratoriums are ending,”
“And so we’re very sensitive to the impact of those dynamics on our students.”
Starting this semester as students return to campus, the university is launching a pilot program that will set aside 12 beds on campus for students who are in need of emergency housing.
Students who are facing housing insecurity can apply for a bed through SJSU Cares, a program established to help students with basic needs including food, housing, emergency assistance, and more.
“For the past three years we’ve typically offered a small amount of emergency housing on campus, reserved a couple beds specifically for that purpose,” said Catherine
“And we have worked to build a number of resources for students including hotel vouchers, small reserves of on-campus beds, and we also have a collaboration with the Ben Wilson Center to provide longer-term more sustainable housing support.”
The allocation of the 12 beds comes after years of discussions between student advocates and the university to address the growing student homeless situation.
In 2018, a group of students formed the Student Homeless Alliance and in Dec. 2019 signed an agreement with the university on the following five recommendations aimed to address student housing insecurity:
- Recommendation 1: Establish an advisory board for basic needs.
- Recommendation 2: Enhance SJSU Cares Program.
- Recommendation 3: Broaden communications and marketing plan for SJSU Cares.
- Recommendation 4: Pilot an emergency beds program funded by the county.
- Recommendation 5: Address the remaining issues in the originally proposed recommendations.
“It’s extremely rough, it's always word of mouth that you hear things mostly from other students who need to share housing in order just to be able to afford rent and be able to attend college at the same time,” said Lana Gomez, senior sociology major and president of the Student Homeless Alliance.
“A lot of students who are approaching the Student Homeless Alliance (SHA) right now looking for housing who are actually couch surfing is one of the common themes that we’re finding.”
According to a recent study released by the university, 41.% of students experienced housing insecurity last year and 11.2% were homeless for at least one day.
With a student population of roughly 33,000 students -- that equates to about 3,700 students experiencing some form of homelessness.
But despite the allocation of beds, sociology professor Scott Myers-Lipton tells KRON4 News there is still much work left to be done to fulfill the recommendations all parties agreed on.
“The 12-bed emergency program was supposed to be open in the fall of last year but what happened last year with COVID, there weren't any students on campus so they held it to this year,” said Myers-Lipton.
“Students asked for a centralized place that would be confidential, this was supposed to be open in April last year, still not open, the university told us they are going to open it at the end of August for sure, still not open.”
Myers-Lipton says the university told him they hadn’t opened the space where the SJSU Cares Program will be located because they couldn’t get furniture in time for the beginning of the school year.
“Still, when that happens that will be helpful because the students will have a way to access SJSU Cares.”
SJSU tells KRON4 News they will evaluate whether the pilot program fits when students' housing needs at the end of the year and are continuing to look for ways to best assist students who need help.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/3yVVjMh
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