COMMUNITY FEATURE PHOTO: TIM CAROLL, MSU DENVER COMBATTING A SILENT EPIDEMIC Colleges on Auraria Campus provide resources for students facing homelessness and food insecurity. BY JAMIE MILLER ON THE FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL, the air on college campuses is saturated with the earthy smell of textbooks, the sound of shoes squeaking down freshly waxed hallways, and the energy of students, anxious to set the right rhythm for the semester. Finding that rhythm can be challenging, especially when the only sound you can hear is your stomach rumbling. In Denver, where the cost of living is roughly 20% higher than the national average and has risen almost 20% over the last four years, housing and food insecurity is a silent epidemic among college students. Abbie Kell, social worker and project manager at Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU), has watched the Denver market become an increasingly difficult place to live. “I have seen the evolution of price increases in Denver, starting in 2018, and the disparities within people who are experiencing homelessness and [financial] difficulty to attain 8 DENVER VOICE September 2024 any sort of housing stability or self-sufficiency,” said Kell. “That gap to self-sufficiency really is workforce and education.” The gap between education and housing is an issue that extends beyond the Rocky Mountains. In 2020, roughly 23% of undergraduate students in the United States, which is more than 4 million, experienced food insecurity, and 8%, which is roughly 1.5 million, faced homelessness, according to GAO’s analysis of student data from the Department of Education’s National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS). The University of Colorado at Denver (CU Denver), Community College of Denver (CCD), and Metropolitan State University of Denver (MSU Denver) on the Auraria campus provide resources to help bridge that gap for their students. Each institution has a tailored approach to providing resources to its student population, including food pantries and housing assistance programs: PHOTO: TIM CAROLL, MSU DENVER • The University of Colorado Denver’s “Single Stop,” which is located in the Wellness Center, serves as an access point to help students navigate food insecurity (Lynx Food Pantry) and connects students with other community and government resources to help overcome barriers to basic needs. • Community College of Denver’s SPARC Human Services provides support to their students in crisis, including resources for food insecurity (Swooper Market - located in the Tivoli Student Union, Room 249, the Lowry Campus Food Pantry, and Snack Stops, which are located across the campus). • The Metropolitan State University of Denver has a food pantry, Rowdy Corner, which Kell described as “more than just an access point for food."
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