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Long Beach City College leaders are allowing up to 15 houseless students to sleep overnight in their cars in a campus parking structure, the Los Angeles Times reported. The effort is part of a pilot program announced Monday.
Under the program, enrolled students experiencing homelessness can stay in the parking garage between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. where they will have access to campus Wi-Fi and restrooms. Students can also use campus showers between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. The students must be independent and cannot have spouses, partners or children staying in the vehicles with them, according to the announcement.
A security firm has been hired to monitor the premises for the duration of the pilot program, which began Oct. 25 and is scheduled to end June 30, 2022. The college will also provide case management services to help the students find stable housing.
“The unfortunate truth is that LBCC has close to 70 students sleeping in their cars each night -- quite possibly more,” Mike Muñoz, the district’s interim superintendent-president said in a press release. “If we can help to keep our students safe so they can better focus on their student responsibilities, this program is absolutely worth pursuing.”
Uduak-Joe Ntuk, president of the district’s Board of Trustees, said the goal of the program is to “serve as a pathway to housing stability” for students.
“These students would otherwise have to be worrying nightly about their vehicles being broken into, trying not to be seen or bothered, and not having the police called on them, all while keeping up with their coursework,” he said in the release. “It could be an exhausting situation that makes it more difficult to get ahead.”
