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1. A recent survey by the University of California Global Food Initiative found 5% of UC students were homeless in the last year, meaning over 2000 UCLA students found themselves without a home in the last year. While college homelessness has received more attention in recent years, UCLA's response to the crisis has been severely lacking.
2. As students, we pledge our support to properly addressing college homelessness. We will not continue to be silent while our fellow Bruins remain homeless and unsupported by UCLA. Through student-led advocacy (protests, rallies, and sit-ins) we will counter UCLA's negligence until action is taken by the university.
3. We call on UCLA to either establish a university funded shelter for its students or provide support through donation of cash/space, revise housing policies for housing insecure students, and improve the Economic Crisis Response Team to better fit the needs of homeless and housing insecure students.
4. While UCLA has made efforts to assist college homelessness, such as through emergency loans, these efforts are not substantial enough to be effective. UCLA's housing policies continue to be obstacles to students without stable housing. The University of California Office of the President has recognized that housing policies during holidays and breaks contribute to homelessness among their students. However, these policies remain largely unchanged. For this reason, it is up to us, the students, to stand together and demand change.
5. Students across California have joined together to protest the lack of action taken to address the crisis of student homelessness. The Los Angeles City Council has declared homelessness an emergency, and plans to devote millions of dollars towards the issue. We are not alone in our desire to make change happen, and our efforts in addressing college homelessness will be a part of changing the issue of homelessness as a whole.
Join us. Sign below to tell UCLA that action must be taken: homeless students can no longer be left in the dark. Through our actions, we can change the approach the university takes towards student homelessness. We have the responsibility and leverage to change these attitudes and approaches. UCLA must take action if we stand together.