Are University Students Homeless?

Are university students homeless? I don’t mean “do students have a place to live or a place to sleep”.  I mean, “do they have a home?” which is an entirely different  question.  It’s a bit of a cliche that students live out of their cars, easily moving from sleazy rental to dumpy basement suite with seemingly relative ease.  Ever been in one of those places?  They’ve got character and soul of their own, but they aren’t home. I remember moving some friends of mine out of a hell-hole of a basement where, as we moved the furniture, we inadvertently uncovered (literally, they were mostly naked) some passed out couple who had bedded down under a beer-drenched, overturned couch.  Okay, that’s an extreme example, perhaps, but back it off a few notches from there and you’ve got the “home” of many students.

Then ask an average student, “do you have a home to go back to?” and you get a revealing answer. Obviously, some of them do – mom and/or dad and some siblings are able to get together over the holidays and yes, they have home. Some even continue to live at home with their parents, albeit a small number.  But many students simply do not have a home.  Either they never really had a “home” in the sense that we would understand, or their “home” has somehow ceased to exist since they headed off to university.

I’m just pondering the question, wondering if homelessness does not characterize many students and asking if this reality shouldn’t inform our ministry to students.  If students need to find a “home,” where are they going to find it? Or will they?