Services Available for Students Facing Homelessness

University of Arkansas students facing homelessness have multiple resources available through different organizations, such as 7Hills Homeless Center and the Salvation Army.

Nearly four in 10 college students in a survey of 43,000 reported that they did not have adequate housing, according to a national research on four-year and two-year colleges.

Researchers at Temple University and the Wisconsin HOPE Lab surveyed students from 66 institutions in 20 states and the District of Columbia and concluded that 36% of college students did not have proper housing. They define homelessness as “a person is without a place to live, often residing in a shelter, an automobile, an abandoned building or outside.” They define housing insecurity as students who are staying with friends, struggling to pay rent or need to move frequently.

Data from the UofA on the number of students who face homelessness is not clear. Students are only required to list an address when they apply to the university.

When students apply, they have an address. University officials do not know whether it is not their home address, said Suzanne McCray, vice provost for enrollment and the dean of admissions.

UA freshmen who are under 21 years old and do not live within 70 miles of the campus must live on campus their first year, according to the UA housing page. After their first-year students have the option of moving off campus.

For some students who are in that in-between stage of affording dorms or apartment leases, one option is crashing on couches, moving from place to place and more. Some might end up being classified as homeless.

Homelessness in college students is not what most people consider homelessness, said Kevin Fitzpatrick, a UA sociology and criminology professor.

“They will likely be couch surfing, they won’t be in the places we typically find homeless people,” Fitzpatrick said.

Multiple resources are available for those in need.

The 7Hills Homeless Center serves those in need in northwest Arkansas in a variety of ways. 7Hills has a Day Center that helps meet basic human needs such as meals, showers, storage lockers, laundry, clothing, blankets and a safe mail drop.

The center serves more than 500 individuals a month at the Day Center, according to the 7Hills webpage.

The Walker Family Residential Community, a 7Hills program, provides transitional and permanent supportive housing. The center also has a veterans service program.

The Salvation Army of Northwest Arkansas has served both traditional and nontraditional students, said Ambra Bruce, director of social services for the Salvation Army in Fayetteville

A variety of services are offered such as access to a food pantry, access to a case manager and access to clothing and food vouchers, as well as prescription assistance, Bruce said.

The Salvation Army also has emergency shelters in Fayetteville and Bentonville.

“Quality of life and wellbeing are critical determinants of student success,” Fitzpatrick said.