UPDATE ON ARCS SUPPORT FOR AFFORDABLE STUDENT HOUSING

ARCS CONTINUES TO SUPPORT COLLEGE STUDENTS

BRAD LE

Created in 2020, Affordable Rents for College Students (ARCS) is a program intended to assist college students who are struggling to get housing. While it was originally started with the aim to serve community college students, it has expanded its services over time.

In 2021, Portland State University posted an announcement saying that it had joined the program to help assist university students in their housing needs. According to PSU, “PSU’s Homelessness and Research & Action Collaborative found that 16% of PSU students had experienced homelessness in the previous 12 months.”

ARCS has served over 100 students according to Ryan Sturley, who serves as the Director for Real Estate and Development of College Housing Northwest (CHNW), which is a partner contributor to ARCS. Initially assisting five students at Portland Community College, the program expanded dramatically in the following two years. It served just under 20 students in spring 2021 and now serves 52 students, with 12 of those students attending PSU.

“We… know that many community college students we’ve assisted have gone to PSU,” Sturley said. “And we continue to assist them.”

ARCS assists students by providing a “50% rental assistance subsidy every month,” according to Sturley. “So for example, say rent is $1000 a month, our students pay $500 a month. In addition, we’re [CHNW] a nonprofit student housing organization and our houses are already below market—probably 15–20%.”

In addition to providing affordable housing, ARCS also aims to reduce the barriers that prevent students from having additional housing.

“A lot of affordable housing resources exist in the U.S., such as the Section 8 voucher,” Sturley said. “If you’re a full-time student, even if you’re experiencing homelessness or low income, in the majority of cases you are not eligible to receive affordable housing resources.”

Besides providing a rental housing subsidy, ARCS eliminates other barriers to student renters.

“[Students] don’t pay security deposits, we don’t require guarantors, previous rental history, free wifi, no utilities,” Sturley said. “So any ancillary costs… you don’t pay.”

In addition to reducing the barriers that block students from affordable housing, Sturley added that ARCS also assists students by providing support services to help ensure that students are doing well in housing and school. “A lot of students might have past trauma from being homeless, so it is an additional layer of support for students,” he said.

Sturley gave a specific example of support where a coordinator will check on ARCS students’ housing needs and inquire if they have issues paying rent, as well as help these students plan financially to pay rent.

Initially starting out with around $20,000 in support money for students to assist in rent, ARCS mostly relied on private support in the beginning. This changed in 2021 when Senator Chris Gorsek of District 25 sponsored Senate Bill 851 (SB851) which granted $280,000 to ARCS to help provide additional housing for students. Now, after helping a total of 100 students and currently assisting 52 students, ARCS is running out of funding.

“We will be approaching the state for more funds with this program in January of 2022,” Senator Gorsek said. “Hopefully, we can expand this program. We want to cover more students… we plan to pursue basics like we’ve already done, but we also pursue an attempt to convince the legislature to at least partially fund further housing projects.”

Sen. Gorsek is also a professor at Mt. Hood Community College and a former police officer. He said that he has witnessed the un-ideal situations college students go through when housing difficulties are thrown into the mix.

“I’ve had some students that were homeless,” he said. “I remember one student in my summer class where her kids lived with her sister but there wasn’t enough room for her in the apartment, so she lived in her car while she was taking classes… it’s awfully difficult to take classes when you’re living out of a vehicle.”

Gorsek himself has had difficulty with housing as well. “As a doctoral student at PSU in the 90s… I was a homeless student and the only option I had was that my parents allowed me to stay with them,” he said. “I was lucky my parents were willing to help out that way and unfortunately not everybody has that opportunity. I’ve had this experience myself and know how disturbing it is and that’s with family help. I can’t imagine how much worse it is without help.”

Students with housing difficulties who are interested in applying for ARCS are recommended to contact their Basic Needs Navigator under the CARE Program. Currently ARCS has a nine person waiting list. NEO CLARK