Hungry, Homeless and in College [View all]

[KamaAina]

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/04/opinion/hungry-homeless-and-in-college.html

THREE months after starting college, Brooke Evans found herself without a place to live. She was 19.

She slept in libraries, bathrooms and her car. She sold plasma and skipped meals. It was hard to focus or participate in class, and when her grades fell, her financial aid did, too. Eventually, she left college and began sleeping on the street, in debt, without a degree....

One in five of those students said that, in the last 30 days, she had gone hungry because of a lack of money. Thirteen percent had experienced a form of homelessness in the last year, having been thrown out or evicted, lived in shelters or abandoned buildings, or gone without a place to sleep at all. Far more — just over half — were at risk of each of those conditions. A majority had financial aid and jobs, but it wasn’t enough.

Such high rates of food and housing insecurity among hard-working college students indicate that the nation faces a serious crisis. Much of the conversation in Washington concerning college costs — whether it’s about simplifying the financial aid application or refinancing student loans — seems almost trivial in comparison with the problems these students face.

has this country come to?! This is why Bernie's calling for free community college!