CITY
As college students continue to face homelessness, resources are available By CARA NIXON News Contibutor
Homelessness has proven to be an intense nationwide problem—one which Corvallis and Oregon State University and its students aren’t exempt from. According to Ann Craig, executive director of Jackson Street Youth Services, one in ten young adults from the ages of 18 to 25 experience homelessness unaccompanied by a parent or guardian over the course of a year. “Although every story is different, there are common paths to homelessness,” Craig said in an email. “The majority of homeless youth have either run away, been kicked out of unstable home environments, abandoned by their families or caregivers, involved with public systems (foster care, juvenile justice and mental health) or have a history of residential instability and disconnection.” College students often fall into the young adult age group, and some experience homelessness while attending school.
Craig said the issue also disproportionately affects young people of color and LGBTQ+ community members. Though there is a lack of recent homelessness statistics concerning OSU students, Craig said she believes the problem to be “significant.” Basic Needs Navigator for the Human Services Resource Center Miguel Arellano said close to 40% of students face some type of basic need insecurity, whether it be related to housing, food or something else. “I think college students are facing this issue because the cost of tuition is just going up, the cost of education [and] the cost of living keeps going up, [and] financial aid is not keeping up,” Arellano explained. “There’s just a lot of contributing factors that are making this even more prevalent today.” Recently graduated Kayla Rose was one of the OSU students who experience homelessness every year. Rose received her bachelor’s
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14 • DAILYBAROMETER.COM • MAY 3, 2021
See HOMELESSNESS RESOURCES, page 15
ALEX REICH | ORANGE MEDIA NETWORK Pictured above is one of the many rooms Jackson Street Youth Services offers to those participating in their Next Steps transitional living program. Jackson Street Youth Services provides Oregon State students with a transitional living program which offers older youth long-term apartment-style housing and support services.
