Scholarships - Fund for Homeless Women

As the cost of college has risen, so has the number of students who are struggling to meet their basic needs. In one recent survey, more than one in five students said they had gone hungry in the past month. Close to one in 10 said they had been homeless at some point in the past year.

— Kelly Field, Chronicle of Higher Education, June 29, 2017

Scholarship Fund for Homeless Women

To help meet the needs of students facing housing insecurity in higher education, the Fund for Homeless Women established a scholarship fund in July 2018 through the generosity of one of our donors. The Scholarship Fund for Homeless Women will assist women who are homeless on the Monterey Peninsula achieve their educational goals.

In addition to supporting community based service programs, your generous gifts to our non-endowed (SPEND) fund will now also assist homeless women who are enrolled in Monterey Peninsula College and California State University Monterey Bay. Our awards will defray the cost of higher education for qualified women and help them write the next chapter of their lives. It is our hope that you will support the Scholarship Fund for Homeless Women and help make the educational goals of homeless students become reality.

Through the Scholarship Fund for Homeless Women you will be able to invest in the lives of deserving students – changing their lives and the lives they encounter, forever. Contributing to a student’s future is an investment that will live on for generations to come.

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“Only 2 percent of teen mothers graduate college — I refuse to be that 98 percent,” she said. “There is just no way I’m going to be able to afford rent without a college degree. It’s the only way I’m going to be able to compete for a job with a family sustaining wage.”
—Stephanie

“When I was young and slept in trucks and cars. It became chronic when I was a junior in high school…my parents kicked me out, and I was on the streets. I was an avid tennis player, so I slept on tennis courts. The concrete held heat so it was warmer at night…I also slept on the roofs of churches, so no one could see me. I wouldn’t eat lunch, because I used that time to study. I went to the library, where I could find peace and access to the internet. I had to give up my lunch as a means of securing a better future. Not eating was an investment in having something better. I was hungry all the time. I tried to eat as little as possible, just so I could make my money stretch as far as possible.”
— Asher

“I know that people are able to take away my money, my belongings, even my security, but something they cannot take away is my success and my education.”
— Mirka

“I think people mainly misunderstand what homelessness is. It’s not just a middle-aged alcoholic stumbling around the city. Homelessness exists in motels, parks, cars, and more places than I can think of. What I want people to know is that homeless youth want more from their lives than what they’ve always known. I want to teach, and I know homeless youth who have plans to become doctors and lawyers. We’re ambitious, and we have the power to do amazing things in this world if someone gives us the opportunity.”
— Hannah

Quotes from Hannah, Mirka and Asher were obtained from The Chronicle of Higher Education, June 29, 2017, Kelly Field, senior reporter. Contact her at kelly.field@chronicle.com. Or follow her on Twitter @kfieldCHE.

There are more than 58,000 homeless college students in America today, according to Free Application for Federal Student Aid data from the 2012-2013 academic year. This number has continued to rise, and marks a more than 75 percent increase over the previous three years. Administrators and poverty advocates nationwide attribute the spike in homelessness among college students to several leading factors:

a parent losing a job
a lack of affordable housing and
rising tuition costs

– Huffington Post Dec. 6, 2017 America’s Homeless College Students

Between 2008 and 2014, homelessness in public school increased by 90 percent, jumping from 680,000 to more than 1.3 million students.

— The Atlantic, U.S. Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development

A majority of homeless college students come from lower-middle-class families and do not have a history of homelessness or extreme poverty. Many were severely affected by the 2008 recession — a parent lost a job and was then unable to assist the student in paying for tuition or housing. Almost all were not homeless before they started school and would not be now if they had opted for full-time jobs over college.
– Affordablecollegeonline.org

Education should be a basic right of every citizen, yet far too many students who find themselves without permanent housing aren’t aware of the wealth of resources available to them – both on campus and in their local communities.
– Accredited Schools Online.org/Higher Education Resources

Approximately 35 percent of America’s homeless population is under the age of 24.
– The Atlantic, U.S. Department of Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development

As of 2017, approximately 14 percent of community college students were homeless, and up to two-thirds don’t have enough food.
– Approximately 35 percent of America’s homeless population is under the age of 24.