1 in 5 L.A. community college students is homeless, survey finds
One in every 5 of the Los Angeles Community College District’s 230,000 students is homeless, and nearly two-thirds can’t afford to eat properly, according to a new survey commissioned by the system’s board of trustees.
The study looked at students with unstable housing and ”food insecurity,” which is defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture as lacking enough to eat to sustain an active, healthy life.
Nearly half the L.A. community college students surveyed reported struggling with high housing costs. Of the 19% who said they were recently homeless, 8% reported being thrown out of their homes, 4% said they had been evicted, and 6% had stayed in an abandoned building, car or other location not meant for housing, the survey said.
Although college students nationwide face financial constraints that affect their nutrition, according to the study, those enrolled at the L.A. district’s nine campuses fare worse than the national average. About 65% can’t afford balanced meals, and 60% are unable to buy more when their food runs out, the study said.
“This is not about eating Top Ramen,” district board of trustees President Scott Svonkin said at a news conference Thursday at Los Angeles Trade Technical College.
Standing before a bank of TV cameras, Trade Tech student Myriah Smiley, 19, broke down in tears as she disclosed she had not been able to eat that morning.
Smiley, who grew up in foster care, said that her food stamps had been cut off when she received a welfare check. The money was not enough to cover books, meals, hygiene and other expenses, she said.
“All the time,” she said when describing how often she goes hungry. Smiley said she was couch-surfing while running for Miss Compton and studying small-business entrepreneurship — with a goal of opening her own bakery. “I cry at night and hope for better days.”
Nationally, 29% of former foster youth in community colleges are homeless, and only 2% obtain an academic degree, according to University of Wisconsin Hope lab, which studies higher education affordability.