California Campuses Confront a Growing Challenge: Homeless Students

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Source: Figures from UC, CSU and Los Angeles Community College District student surveys. CSU and L.A. community colleges surveys asked students if they experienced homelessness any time in the past year, while the UC survey referred to incidents that occurred during a student's time on campus.

By Felicia Mello, CALmatters

The dream was always the same, Arthur Chavez says. He was following a bumblebee through a forest, stumbling over puddles and branches. When he caught the bee, he would find himself onstage, wearing a suit, in front of an applauding crowd.

After the third time, Chavez decided the dream was a sign. He quit his job at a Fullerton gas station and enrolled in community college, on his way to a bachelor’s degree.

His first semester as a transfer student at Sacramento State, he started participating in the ROTC, lost 75 pounds, and declared a double-major in psychology and humanities/religious studies. He planned to become an Army officer, which he hoped would help him obtain U.S. citizenship for his mother.

Read the complete story at CALmatters.

For more in-depth coverage of issues of homelessness, read the Public Press special reports on solving homelessness: an update, solving homelessness and navigating homelessness

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