Our Mission
Students 4 Students establishes and promotes collaborative shelters for young people, by young people, to end college homelessness. Our primary aim is to shelter and support college students experiencing homelessness. We also share our model with colleges, universities, student groups, faith organizations and others wishing to replicate our collaborative approach. Our program empowers students who operate our shelters to become the next generation of philanthropists, non-profit, and community service leaders.
We believe that students should hunger for knowledge, not hunger for food; that students should use their smarts on their books, not on finding a place to sleep. We see hope for strong communities when young people are able to determine their own pursuit of education, not their circumstances.
Our Beginning
Students 4 Students’s first Student shelter, Bruin Shelter, was founded by UCLA students under the guidance and support of an experienced Advisory Board and dedicated faculty advisors. This unique model of peer to peer service and community building has proven a successful model, allowing S4S to grow our offerings to include 3 additional Student Shelter projects, (Trojan Shelter) run by USC students, (Aggie House) run by UC Davis students and (Slug Shelter) under development by UC Santa Cruz students. S4S shelters meet the basic needs of homeless college students from all area schools, while connecting them with resources to finalize post-shelter housing plans and a path to graduation.
College Homelessness
Our success is defined by the success of our residents. We are committed to helping them address varying circumstances, and cross the finish line to their college graduation. These disadvantages can include economic factors, such as a low-income background prior to college entrance, educational factors such as inadequate early education because of frequent school changes, and lack of exposure to academic role models. Our shelter provides the immediate basic needs of food and housing, case management services and connect them with long-term resources to succeed academically.
There are more than 58,000 homeless college students in the country, and we are doing something about it.
