By Rachel Lampert
Long Beach, California is known to be a bustling city and has had several unhoused individuals, especially a high number of college students without a home. The community college ‘Long Beach City College’ has been a place for students to stay. According to an article by Briana Mendez-Padilla, CalMatters (West Coast stations and Q.E.D.), she says. “The lot is a designated area for Long Beach City College’s Safe Parking Program, an initiative from the college’s Basic Needs Center that offers safe overnight parking for students and connects them to resources like showers and Wi-Fi. The program was created to address a particular student demographic: homeless students living in their cars.” Therefore those who might not have a home have a space to stay while attending college.
Research conducted by the Community College League of California discovered that 3 out of 5 individuals are housing insecure. Whereas 2 out of 3 students have difficulty meeting their basic needs which means essentials such as toiletries and even food staples. Recently, an assembly bill was passed to create safety and security for the students who stay overnight in their vehicles. Padilla writes. “The most recent effort was Assembly Bill 1818. Introduced by Assemblymember Corey Jackson early this year, the bill would have required the California Community College and California State University systems to create pilot programs to provide safe overnight parking for students living in their cars.” Although the bill was discontinued on August 16th it would have made it to where California State Universities would need to hand-pick five college campuses to take part in this program. As well as the community college chancellor has to do the same but is required to select 20 college campuses. This program if it were to stay in place would last up till the year 2028.
If you are an unhoused college student in Long Beach please call (562) 570-4MSC for more information.
References:
CalMatters. (n.d.). AB 1818: Public postsecondary education: Overnight student parking: Pilot program. Digital Democracy. https://calmatters.digitaldemocracy.org/bills/ca_202320240ab1818
Community College League of California. (2023). Basic needs among California Community College students.https://www.ccleague.org/sites/default/files/images/basic_needs_among_california_community_college_students-final-2023.pdf
City of Long Beach. (n.d.). Homeless services. https://www.longbeach.gov/homelessness/homeless-services/
Mendez-Padilla, B. (2024, September 20). This California college lets homeless students sleep safely in their cars on campus. Why don’t other schools do it? KQED. https://www.kqed.org/news/12005503/this-california-college-lets-homeless-students-sleep-safely-in-their-cars-on-campus-why-dont-other-schools-do-it