Refocusing Basic Needs: The Student Housing Crisis in Higher Education

About This Episode:

The current housing crisis for students cannot be ignored. A survey conducted in 2019 found on-campus that most students in California have experienced some type of housing insecurity with the highest risk being students from marginalized communities. The traditional on campus basic needs centers are not enough to help the students in this crisis and universities are now trying to adapt their programs to be able to further help students and keep them in college. 

In this episode, we speak with the executive director of the Center for Equitable Higher Education at CSU Long Beach about the current student housing crisis; a student who shares his real-life experiences with the struggle to find housing; and a former case manager who created the Crisis Assistance and Resource Education Support program at Sacramento State by using data and personal stories from students in need. 

Featured on This Episode:

• Rashida Crutchfield is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at California State University, Long Beach. She earned a Master of Social Work at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis and her Doctorate in Educational Leadership from CSULB.  She worked for the National Conference for Community and Justice in Long Beach and the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri before serving on the Covenant House California staff. She is currently the executive director of the Center for Equitable Higher Education.

 

• Danielle Munoz is a licensed therapist and case manager who was working on Sacramento State’s behavioral intervention team. She earned a bachelor’s degree in sociology from UC Davis and a Master's of Marriage and Family therapy from CSU Sacramento. 

 

• Marissa Islas is one of the Basic Needs Housing and Education Coordinators at the UC San Diego Basic Needs Center. She earned a Bachelor in Global Health, Psychology Minor from The University of California, San Diego. 

 

• Kameo Quenga is a Basic Needs Housing & Education Coordinator at the UC San Diego Basic Needs Center. She earned a Bachelor of psychology from San Jose State University and her Master of Higher education and Student Affairs from the University of San Francisco. 

Resources for This Episode:

• Center for Equitable Higher Education
• California State University, Long Beach
• UC San Diego Basic Needs Center
• CSU Student Well-Being and Basic Needs