Student organizations emphasize campus resources for homelessness, food insecurity

There are many resources students experiencing hunger and homelessness may not know about, according to UCLA student and community leaders at a panel Tuesday.

The Bruin McKinney Vento Initiative supports the academic success of students experiencing homelessness by providing them with access to basic needs, 580 Cafe helps students find food resources in local communities during the pandemic, and Swipe Out Hunger collects residential Hall meal swipes and donates them to students.

Matthew Bodo, a second-year linguistics and psychology transfer student and panel attendee, said the difficulties he experienced navigating basic needs resources while taking community college classes prior to transferring to UCLA were discouraging.

The California Public Interest Research Group at UCLA, a student-led advocacy organization that lobbies for environmental sustainability and hunger relief on college campuses hosted the panel to raise awareness about existing local and campus resources for students.

“Even when I was vocal about being homeless, I had a difficult time getting people to either believe or recognize that,” Bodo said. “It’s incredibly important to have resources that do treat students with dignity … when they’re at, possibly, their most vulnerable.”

Bodo added he hopes students faced with housing insecurity know that there is more to their identity than being permanently defined as homeless or formerly homeless.

“I want to emphasize to those students that while it is a part of your identity, it’s not going to be everything,” Bodo said. “I hope that the identity of having experienced homelessness is not something that will completely define you.”

Maritza Lopez, a third-year art history student and panelist, said her use of resources like Bruin Shelter and 580 Cafe inspired her to work with the Bruin McKinney Vento Initiative.

“The cool thing is, we’re able to advocate for students who are too shy to speak, or who are too shy to be put on the spot and share about their story and about services they were able to tap into or services that didn’t work for them,” Lopez said. “We want to say homelessness is only temporary, it shouldn’t be permanent … we’re here for students.”

Jeanne Roe Smith, the executive director of 580 Cafe, a nonprofit that has provided financially struggling students with meals since 2010, said the cafe has had to become more diligent in connecting students with food resources in local communities during the pandemic.

She also said society needs to destigmatize the shame surrounding food and housing insecurity.

“We want to look like we have it all together and we’re doing well,” Smith said. “That perception is changing, to a degree, but it’s not lessening. … Perhaps one of the blessings of the pandemic is it’s unmasking some of the makeup that was on, saying everything’s fine when we know it isn’t.”

Due to the pandemic, UCLA meal plan options and dining facilities are currently only available to students residing on campus.

Celina Lee, the president of Swipe Out Hunger, said students need more access to programs that help eliminate food insecurity.

“There are so many factors at play and so many barriers to overcoming these inequalities,” Lee said. “I think the responsibility does not lie in the individuals who are facing food insecurity, but rather on the systems that have been perpetuating these injustices for so long.”

Representatives from the Community Programs Office, Semel Healthy Campus Initiative Center, Bruin Shelter, Bruins Resource Center, BruiNecessities, Residential Life and other campus organizations were also in attendance at the panel.

CALPIRG raised more than $1,800 for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank during national Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week, which was from Nov. 15 to 22, said Nicolas Riani, the campaign coordinator for CALPIRG’s Hunger and Homelessness Campaign.

Inequitable access to basic needs remains a widespread concern in higher education.

Across the UC system, 1 in 20 students have experienced homelessness at some point during their enrollment, and 44% of undergraduates have experienced food insecurity, according to a report from the UC Global Food Initiative.

“Even more students and members of the community than usual are dealing with hunger or homelessness,” Riani said. “No one should have to worry about whether they have food on their plate or a roof over their head. I think it’s important that students know about these resources, especially when we can’t advertise them in person.”

For more information on resources available to students, please visit the UCLA student resource list.