STUDENT VOICES
Shedding light on the hidden truth of student homelessness at UC Berkeley
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The idea of “silenced histories” extends to Cal’s student body and its recognition - or lack thereof - of homelessness and home insecurity for attending students. The stories of students struggling with homelessness exemplify how invisible the problem can be to an institution at large.
Tavi, UC Berkeley Senior,
Sociology transfer student
“I feel like I could be a school asset if I were just able to just have a home”
Tavi, a senior UC Berkeley student in 2018, was able to transfer from community college to UC Berkeley with leftover money from the scholarships that have helped her get through her earlier college years.
Because Berkeley’s out-of-state tuition is high, she was in need of more money to pay the necessary costs of attending the university. The situation for Tavi, however, was that Berkeley’s financial aid setup disincentivized students to apply for scholarships because when scholarships are accounted for by the university, Berkeley assumes that you do not need additional loan money and as a result, takes away the option for additional loans, even though some students may actually need it.
Taylor Harvey
ASUC Housing Commission Chair & Co-Founder of Homeless Student Union
Taylor Harvey has struggled with homelessness and housing insecurity since the age of 16. Though her tuition is fully covered by UC Berkeley, she must work 40 hours a week, on top of taking 24 course units, to make ends meet.
Her empty, growling stomach distracts her during lectures and she is often unable to attend lecture due to her work schedule. The constant anxiety, stress, and fear that she experiences significantly hinders her progress as a student.
Having personally experienced housing insecurity, Taylor campaigns on Sproul and Memorial Glade to tell the untold stories of homeless UC Berkeley students.
Taylor is making a difference. Taylor launched a direct action on Cal Day, canvassing incoming parents and students to call the administration and encourage them to meet the demands of student homelessness at UC Berkeley.
UC Berkeley Student Demands to Address Homelessness
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Institutionalize emergency housing for homeless students
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Stop building public-private partnerships
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Build affordable housing in the University Hearst Zone
Leo, UC Berkeley Junior,
African American Studies
Leo, a 2018 UC Berkeley junior, has dealt with many occasions of not knowing where to sleep and having to make long commutes just to get to campus. Many times, these commutes take at least two hours, which eventually cuts into the time that he spends doing work for classes.
He moved out of his campus dorm after freshman year and currently lives in Richmond, California for a rent of $525 for a single room compared to $1,620 for a double in the UC Berkeley dorms. To him, it made more financial sense to find a place with a lower cost in order to accommodate the financial hardships that he faces, even though it means living out of the Berkeley area.
Homelessness is a COMMUNITY issue
“Homelessness is still considered by the administration, faculty and students alike to be an issue that is external to campus life — something you see when you step out of Sproul Plaza and onto Telegraph Avenue.”
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“Now, faced with a lack of hot water in the winter, for example, I was ashamed to ask for the help I needed. And when I did — embarrassingly reaching out to the ASUC — I was often ignored. The worst was arriving on campus to find I was one of the students selected for verification on my financial aid, meaning I didn’t have any money for an extra two weeks compared to other students.”
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“I stopped being present. In class, I was more worried about looking homeless than understanding the literature I had traveled to this city to study.”
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“I was still an anonymous unit of the UC Berkeley bureaucracy, not processed any faster than the rest, not special and therefore not identifiably homeless. Looking back, I’m appalled at how little the financial aid office tried to accommodate me.”
“ Because what characterized most of my “van experience” was paranoia surrounding my image, it’s difficult to imagine that the campus could help my case by deconstructing an entire social system that castigates homelessness.”
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Homelessness at UC Berkeley is often ignored and thought to be an individual issue rather than a community issue.
Recognizing invisible students
"What if I just got to be home and be secure and know where I was gonna sleep at night."
Ismael Chamu
Sociology Student
"I try to do the best I can, but I still don't get ahead. You take one foot forward and a giant leap backwards. You can't live off of that."
Ismael is the son of migrant worker from Mexico. He rents a trailer with no heat or sewer hookups to provide a home for his three younger siblings. Every day, he has a 90-minute commute to UC Berkeley (on foot and by BART) and makes sure to drop off his siblings at their high school. He works an on-campus job and is a full-time sociology student.
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Much of his time is spent finding shelter and food for himself and his siblings. His parents were forced to live in their car after economic difficulties, so he cares for his siblings while he attends UC Berkeley.
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He can't qualify for food stamps because he doesn't have a permanent address and he has spent much of his academic loan to support his family.
Hope for homeless students
Berkeley Home Match is a program which helps UC Berkeley students find housing by pairing them with an older adult who is also a Cal Alumni.
The Homeless Student Union raises awareness of and brainstorms solutions to student homelessness at UC Berkeley. They address the housing crisis, mental health, food insecurity, and more.
The Basic Needs Center at UC Berkeley addresses three major issues:
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1. Food support- provision of food or financial support to purchase food in emergency situations
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2. Housing support- assistance to enable individuals to secure and maintain suitable housing
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3. Economic support- financial security of having stable and predictable income or other resources
