Homeless & Educated for the Holidays
Homelessness is a noun I am utterly familiar with. I can’t remember a time in my life when I didn’t experience unstable housing between late childhood to young adulthood. I struggled like the rest of the 649,917 individuals (HUD) reported homeless in the early 2000-2010. At one time my family squatted illegally in a moldy foreclosed house. I bounced around from various living situations for most of the first part of my life. Once I hit university, I thought that my housing instability would vanish. But also struggled for a while to find affordable housing.
College is a time for most young adults to not worry about housing insecurities, but rather focus on academia. Many young adults can face challenges with finding adequate and affordable housing while at college. However, some populations like younger military veterans and BIPOC are most likely to become homeless. The New York Times best describes why the United States has this dilemma at colleges. “Most campuses, even those hardest hits by student homelessness, have failed to provide broad solutions, in part because those solutions are costly, and because there is limited research on what the best fixes are” (New York Times, 2020). Over the last five years, the United States of America has faced a housing crisis. With only 7 million affordable homes for our nation's 10.8 million plus extremely low-income families. College students are right in the middle of this crisis.
This causes students to resort to couch surfing, sleeping in a car, or occasionally paying for a hostel. In my first year of undergraduate school was like many other college students sleeping in my car or at a friend’s house. This situation was what sparked me to join the military in 2009. I worked minimum-wage jobs and never was able to afford housing on my own. Fast forward to 2022, the same mantra of generations before me swear they were able to share an apartment and go to college all on a minimum wage part-time job. The common myth for why Millennials (me and maybe you) and Gen Z (maybe you) struggle is the assumption that we are lazy and too emotional for our good. Millennials grew up watching the Twin Towers burn to the ground. Gen Z witnessed the civil unrest in the streets of major cities.
According to Out of Reach, for an individual to afford a two-bedroom apartment alone people must make more than what most states require the minimum wage to be. In California, an individual needs to make $42.25 per hour, which would be equivalent to 109 hours per week paid at the state minimum wage rate. For states that are lower cost, it still doesn’t look great. In West Virginia, an individual needs to make $16.64 per hour, which would be equivalent to 76 hours per week paid at the state minimum wage. Why do we have such a crisis in America for housing young adults when other countries create laws to foster individual education and national economic growth?
Much of the data that I have discussed can feel despairing to hear as a Millennial or Gen Z. However, there is much hope for the future regarding affordable housing and living wages. Citizens can work towards change within their communities by addressing this need. One community that has already broken ground and developed one of the most cost-effective rent for community college students. CHI Centralia advertises rent at $2,250 per quarter or $750 per month. With the option to set up payment plans. This allows CHI Centralia Students to focus on their studies without worrying about being displaced.
Throughout my professional career, I have worked with homeless youth, displaced young adults (wards of the state), and as a homeless case manager for elder veterans. Homelessness, can hit anyone at any time but I do believe that young teenagers entering adulthood are sometimes overlooked. This is due to a stigma and not based on data or research.
As you start to shop and travel during this holiday season, I want to highlight the ever-important topic of affordable housing, especially for young people. If you are feeling generous this season and are visiting shops please be a little kinder to the college students who might be working two jobs to afford rent for next semester. I know I will be donating a dollar or two more to the tip jar for those working hard to keep the lights on at home.
- -B. Jordan
Interested in what I found? Learn more below.
https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2010HomelessAssessmentReport.pdf
