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Wednesday, May 22, 2019 Glendale Community College Student Newspaper
Volume 113 | Issue 5
Sleeping Under
Tobias Graves-Morris Graphic Designer
The truth behind the growing problem of housing and food insecurity among college students By Marian Sahakyan Editor-in-Chief With a strong presence, she walks across campus, a motorcycle helmet under her arm, backpack in her hand and a smile to conceal her reality. Like a chameleon, she fits right in in any given situation and any environment. It takes a little “getting to know” you, however, to understand that her daily experiences are nothing ordinary. While her optimism prompts her to call it “sleeping under the stars,” standard dictionaries and people would define her situation differently. She is homeless. Her name is Leah Valdivia Bloomfield, a STEAM student at Glendale College. As a first-generation Nicaraguan-American, she falls into just about any societal statistic related to Latin women and their struggle for survival in this country. Her story is marked with toxic familial conditions and unsuccessful romantic relationships, and at one point needing to step it up and support her mother financially and physically. She describes, in harrowing detail, sexual abuse in the workplace. She has seen it all. Two heavy traffic collisions in the short span of two years have left her with nearly $100,000 in medical debt, causing a drop in credit scores, which in its turn strains her already-complicated path. She says that these experiences have
contributed to the reality that she no longer has a place to call home. The 20-something-year-old explains that at some point “personal responsibility” led her to leaving these mentally draining situations and enabled her to choose to live “independently,” at least for a while. “You have to pick your battles and for me, I couldn’t handle it anymore. I was hungry for more for myself,” she says. “I knew I can do this.” Leah says that a lot of her experiences and survival would not have been possible without the kindness of others. She says that although situations get tough, “really tough,” she stresses, the most important thing that one can do is to stay grounded and to be okay with talking about it. That’s the only way to break the stigma, she opines. “It felt hopeless for a while, but you can’t blame the world for your problems forever,” she says with a laugh. A study by Temple University and Wisconsin HOPE Lab states that more than a third of college students don’t have enough to eat. At least 36% say they are “housing insecure,” while another 9% of students report being homeless. Although we have many statistics indicating the student homeless population nationwide or event statewide, community colleges don’t have this information. It’s hard to aggregate and legal issues may factor into the why. One GCC professor, who asked for anonymity for herself and her students, explains that she has
had students step up to explain their dire circumstances. “In a given academic year, I will encounter at least two students who confide in me that they don’t have a home,” according to the instructor. “Some of them don’t even understand that living in a motel and then alternating back to a car means that they are homeless. It’s really amplifies the importance of resources on campus, like the Food Pantry, and awareness campaigns that we do with CalFresh and SNAP. We have so many students who are struggling and they are here to try to better their lives.”
for homeless individuals? Oftentimes, these accommodations don’t meet basic sanitary standards, even for those who are in desperate need. Leah says that she chooses not to use these facilities, as she is too afraid to catch foot fungus and other diseases that are common in these places. The consequences of not having a permanent residency and therefore a home address, can also affect simple things like holding a library card, or signing up for credit cards and paying cell phone bills. In such circumstances, a post office box is simply not enough.
Access Denied
Resources? Though the State of California provides its residents in need with multiple food and cash assistance programs. These programs have requirements of eligibility that can be confusing and burdening for most. Being over the age of 25, Leah is
Homelessness isn’t just a threat to safety or health. It comes with a much larger scope of what one cannot do. Things like taking a daily shower, consuming fresh and healthy foods, and sleeping in a clean, comfortable setting are some of the things that homeless individuals struggle with. Leah says that taking care of her personal hygiene is one of her top priorities.It’s part of her “female identity” to feel and look good and presentable. As a result, she often has to sign up for free trials at gyms and yoga studios, which enables her to use their showers. “I have to be cautious to not sweat, because I never know if I’ll be able to shower that day or the next,” Leah says. What about showering facilities
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In This Issue News. . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3 Features . . . . . . . . . 4-5 Editorial. . . . . . . . . . 5 Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Entertainment.......8