Many college students are struggling with paying for college and books as well as living situations. Many students have also resorted to living in their cars which can be dangerous and unhygienic. Now, Long Beach City College has come up with a new way of keeping college students who live in their car safe with the “Safe Parking Program”.

About 1 in 5 college students are experiencing homelessness; according to LBCC (Long Beach City College), at least 199 students had applied for a student emergency aid fund application as chronically homeless; meaning that they have been homeless for over a year. The Safe Parking Program will give college students a safer place to stay as a temporary solution so they can get themselves back on track and find a more permanent living situation. The program was inspired by a California assembly bill that never passed. It was a bill that proposed overnight housing for students in all 116 California community college campuses. The bill did not get passed due to worry of liability and funding concerns. Though most people thought that the bill was not a good idea, they believed that there had to be some sort of solution which is what sparked the Safe Parking Program, which is now in its pilot phase and may eventually become permanent.

A pre-registration survey was taken by about 20,000 students. Roughly 1,000 students have reported not to have had a stable or permanent living situation over the past five months; about 3,000 have had trouble paying their bills and rent over the past 6 months. The program aims to help these students that are living in their cars get themselves back up on their feet. It is only meant as a temporary living situation that gives these students another chance to find themselves a more permanent and stable living condition while still maintaining grades and keeping up with their basic needs like food, water, and simple hygiene.

The Safe Parking Program will have 15 parking spaces in a campus parking garage that will be watched over by security guards at all times. Students will be allowed to park there from 10 p.m until 7 a.m. The students will have access to free Wifi, electricity, and restrooms. From 6 a.m until 8 a.m the students in the program will also have access to campus showers. Two students have already been enrolled in the program and nine more have applied to the program, which started in October and will run until June 30. The Safe Parking Program will then be re-evaluated by Safe Parking L.A. who serves as a consultant to the college’s basic needs program.

The Safe Parking programs will hopefully get students who are struggling to find living situations back on their feet and help them maintain grades and sometimes outside jobs.