SCCHP addresses rampant housing inequality amidst public health crisis

Last spring, campus abruptly closed forcing students to find quick housing alternatives.

The Student Coalition for Combating Homelessness and Poverty (SCCHP) ensures that housing and other necessities are readily available to everyone at New College. The co-presidents of SCCHP, thesis students Liz Bowerfind and Carter Delegal, have spearheaded operations to raise student awareness of and access to the various resources on campus, including the New College emergency fund.

“The emergency fund serves students in financial need and can be a really useful tool, especially in times of crisis like these,” Bowerfind and Delegal said jointly in an email interview. “We’re also interested in holding New College’s administration accountable and making sure they’re working to address issues like housing inequality in our community. We think there are certain features of New College housing policies that make finding affordable housing difficult and that exacerbate stressful living situations.”

Bowerfind and Delegal mentioned combating the restrictions surrounding off-campus housing and the closing of residence halls during breaks as priorities. The SCCHP also hopes to serve as an educational resource to students on the subject of housing inequality.

“Homelessness is often an invisible issue, not least because it is easier to sweep it under the rug than to face the societal failing it reflects head-on,” Bowerfind and Delegal explained. “So, we think it is important to have frank conversations about homelessness and the structural conditions that create it.”

The club meets on Monday evenings at 7 p.m. outside of the Bike Shoppe, but provides a Google Meet link for students who are not able to attend the meetings in-person. The members sit at an appropriate social distance from each other and hand sanitizer is supplied.

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