No Home Without School
What school shutdowns mean for homeless students
As the coronavirus pandemic forced student housing around the US to shut, the homeless student community was left particularly vulnerable, with restricted access to the most basic everyday resources.
"A lot of our students who are homeless will shower at our campus rec center, or do their laundry in a residence hall, or eat in a dining hall. And all those things don’t exist for them anymore", says Annie Ciaraldi, UMass Lowell's associate dean of students. Staggeringly more than 114,000 of New York's million students are homeless. One homeless student shares her experience. "I now buy more groceries than I ever would have before, because I was using my meal plan for the main meals of the day." As well as 400 meal hubs, vulnerable students are given iPads to help them keep on top of their studies online. "My fear is that there are a lot more homeless out there than we know of", adds Ciaraldi.
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