Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is a national event held the week before Thanksgiving each year that aims to educate the public and draw attention to the problem of poverty, while building a base of volunteers and anti-poverty organizations.
One in every two students in Washington state experienced some level of food or housing insecurity and one in every 10 students had experienced homelessness in the past year, according to the 2023 Washington Student Experience Survey.
The surveyors defined food insecurity as the availability of food to students, the quality of food available and the frequency of experiencing hunger.
Western offers a variety of services for students who are facing food and housing insecurity, including food pantries located around campus and the Basic Needs Hub.
“There's also been a perception that if you're a college student, ‘Oh, you're just a poor college student.’This is what you do; life is hard for a little while. You live on ramen and you couch surf. You make it through, you get your degree, and things are better,” said Gina Ebbeling, basic needs resource navigator at Western. “We're trying to dispel that myth. Students need food and nutrition in order to learn and thrive.”
Western Success Scholars is a campus-based support program designed to help students who have experienced foster care or homelessness. Stubblefield and staff in the WSS helped organize the Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week events at Western.
“[Western Success Scholars] have been pretty integral to my college career. It’s pretty isolating, and it's difficult to connect with some peers when you don't have the same family background as most people,” said Zay Hassan, a Western Success Scholars program peer navigator. “It was nice to be able to have that kind of community.”
Another way Western is helping combat food insecurity in students is through The Outback Farm, which produces food such as mushrooms, nuts, fruits, berries, honey, eggs, vegetables and herbs.
“We distribute those to students. Our two biggest ways are one, through the food pantries. We deliver most frequently to Fairhaven, but we try to split it up pretty evenly between Fairhaven and the whole pantry in the [Viking Union],” said Terri Kempton, The Outback’s farm manager and a Fairhaven college professor. The second way The Outback helps students is through free farmers’ markets from June to September to distribute produce.
Best-selling author Stephanie Land will help Western kick off the week with a talk and book signing on Nov. 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the Performing Arts Center Concert Hall. Western students get free tickets to Land’s event.
Land is best known for her books “Maid” and “Class.” “Maid” has since been adapted into a Netflix series. In “Maid” Land discusses her experiences in Kitsap County and later in Montana with poverty, domestic abuse and navigating motherhood and secondary education.
“I think having her voice here is going to be really powerful,” Ebbeling said.
On Nov. 20, there will be a truck in Red Square where students can sign up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a monthly stipend to help students purchase their groceries. Students can qualify if they work more than 20 hours a week, have work-study as part of their financial aid package or have dependents of a certain age.
Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week will conclude with the Kitchen Flea Market and Resource Fair in the Viking Union Multi-Purpose Room on Nov. 22 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Cody Mills (he/him) is a campus news reporter for The Front this quarter. He is a third-year environmental journalism major. When he's not reporting you can find him skiing or climbing. You can reach him at codymills.thefront@gmail.com.
