Homelessness is indiscriminate. It can effect anyone, anywhere. Depaul USA has been addressing what may be a hidden problem to the average American: homeless college students, and in Chicago they have started a homeless housing program called Dax designed just for students.

Interview with a student who was living in a van while attending college

Being homeless isn’t something you might expect with college students, but in fact they often don’t have enough money to cover the high cost of housing on or near college campuses. A recent story from CBS News reports that “According to financial aid applications, there are more than 68,000 students who claim to be homeless.”

Sara Goldrick-Rab, a leading national researcher on the problem, explains, “One of the things that’s changed in the United States over time is that, if you grew up without money, we have sent a pretty strong signal to those students that financial aid is available, and you should try college, because it’s your route out of poverty… the problem is that they’re going to college but we didn’t build the support for them.”

Unlike elementary and secondary school students, whose families can get some support from things like federal free breakfast and lunch programs, for college students much of that assistance dries up.

But although college homelessness is a common occurrence, it is a solvable problem, according to Depaul USA.

The TV program CBS Sunday Morning recently aired a segment on college students experiencing homelessness across the U.S. which featured Depaul USA’s Dax Program in Chicago. Read more at this link on cbsnews.com

To support the Dax Program visit depaulusa.org/donate.