Long Beach City College (LBCC) will allow a small number of enrolled students who are homeless to stay overnight in their cars in a designated, secure parking facility on campus. They also will have access to wi-fi, bathrooms and showers.
The California college announced this month it will implement its Safe Parking Program to address the needs of unhoused students and provide a safe place for them to park overnight. The pilot is the only known program of its kind in the region at a community college, according to LBCC.
The college will set aside 15 parking spots at a facility at its Pacific Coast campus, which was selected because it is new, can be secured and is close to bathrooms and showers, said Mike Muñoz, interim superintendent-president of the Long Beach Community College District. About 70 students have been identified as sleeping in their cars, he said.
“If we can help to keep our students safe so they can better focus on their student responsibilities, this program is absolutely worth pursuing. Our goal at LBCC is always to remove barriers that get in the way of our students’ success,” Muñoz said.
Trying an idea
State lawmakers previously mulled opening colleges’ parking areas as a temporary solution to homelessness among students as the state struggles with a housing shortage. However, those legislative efforts have stalled, mainly due to concerns about funding and liability.
Those concerns as well as any unexpected issues are why the college is running its program as a pilot with a manageable number of students, Muñoz said. LBCC will use general funds to pay for the pilot, allocating about $200,000, he said. The college is using savings resulting mainly from the pandemic, such as savings on travel.
Officials at the college also realized they didn’t fully have the expertise to run such a program themselves or to foresee potential issues, so they teamed with Safe Parking LA, which has worked with churches and municipalities to operate similar programs. The company is serving as a consultant to the college’s Basic Needs Program, which is overseeing the effort, providing technical assistance and training for the first three months. The college also has contracted with a security company.
A helping hand
Enrolled students who are experiencing homelessness are eligible to stay seven nights a week, between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. The students will have access to restrooms and wi-fi throughout the night. They will also have access to showers at the campus between 6 a.m. and 8 a.m. daily.
To be eligible to participate, LBCC students must be independent with no spouses, partners, children or pets sleeping in the vehicle with them. The college is considering how to address this, Muñoz said.
Students also must have car insurance and current registration, which has become an issue for some students, Muñoz said. The college is working with its foundation to perhaps help those students with the costs, including bringing cars up to compliance.
LBCC also plans to use a case-management approach to help participating students quickly find more long-term and stable housing. The goal is for the program to serve as a pathway to housing stability for its students, said Uduak-Joe Ntuk, who is president of the college district’s board of trustees.
“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 police called on them, all while keeping up with their coursework,” he said in a press release. “It could be an exhausting situation that makes it more difficult to get ahead.”
