Bruin Shelter Seeks Help Providing Students’ Basic Needs
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recent UCLA survey found that 5% to 20% of California’s public college and university students experience homelessness. Bruin Shelter is a student-led organization that relies on donations to provide “a safe and supportive environment for all, providing basic resources, and helping students pursue their academic goals.”
Emerald Wong Exp. ’24 and Rachel Xu Exp. ’25 are Bruin Shelter student volunteers who believe there is an urgent need to address this important issue. Xu says, “Something that we try to emphasize is that the residents are just students. If you're sitting in a 300-person lecture hall, one of every 20 students in that lecture with you is facing housing insecurity.”
Emerald Wong is Bruin Shelter’s current vice president. She is majoring in human biology and society and minoring in public health, and plans to apply to medical school after a gap year working as a clinical research coordinator. She says, “We believe that there should be no barriers to higher education, especially housing. I’ve learned how we as students can mobilize to create change on our campus, especially ethical, long term, sustainable change.”
Rachel Xu is the shelter’s co-director of staff and will be next year's incoming president. She is a human biology and society major with plans to apply to medical school and become a physician. She says, “I've come to really feel so passionately about securing basic needs for students. Seeing how food, access to medical care and housing are so intertwined has given me a more comprehensive view of healthcare and basic needs.”
Bruin Shelter was founded in 2016 by Louis Tse, M.S. ’14, Ph.D. ’16, and Luke Shaw to address the lasting economic impact of the 2008 recession. At that time, the estimated cost of running the 10-bed shelter was $25,000 per year. Since then, the shelter located in Mt. Olive Lutheran Church in Santa Monica has housed a total of 51 Los Angeles college students.
More information on the shelter’s history can be found in our 2016 story on the founding of Bruin Shelter. The nonprofit organization Students4Students (S4S) oversaw shelter operations, and expanded to include Trojan Shelter at USC and Aggie House at UC Davis.
Bruin Shelter pairs students facing a lack of housing with case managers recruited from the David Geffen School of Medicine and the Luskin School of Social Work who connect them with resources to find permanent supportive housing, employment opportunities and health care. Xu says, “I think when you have access to basic needs, it goes unnoticed and taken for granted. But having secure access to basic needs is so important, especially on college campuses.”
In 2020, the shelter paused operations as a result of unprecedented challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Although they couldn’t house students, volunteers launched a remote case management program to connect students experiencing housing insecurity with available resources. They also created a basic needs resource guide, which they provide to all applicants. Following the pandemic, as the shelter prepared to reopen, S4S let them know that they were facing financial challenges and chose to dissolve their organization. Seeking a solution, Bruin Shelter volunteers reached out to founder Louis Tse, who now runs the nonprofit organization, Student MOJO. Student MOJO accepted it as a project under their fiscal sponsorship.
Student-volunteers are searching for a new shelter location, and continue to provide essential services and resources. Wong says, “We really want to emphasize that we're looking for a new space to accommodate us and our mission.” Xu continues, “It's always been our priority to make sure we can offer housing free of cost. We're looking for financial support and job opportunities for our service recipients. These students have bright futures ahead of them, and they need housing to get there.”
“It's always been our priority to make sure we can offer housing free of cost. We're looking for financial support and job opportunities for our service recipients. These students have bright futures ahead of them, and they need housing to get there.”
In the absence of a physical shelter, volunteers have focused on initiatives to help students in other ways. In 2023, they raised nearly $6,000 in a UCLA SPARK campaign to continue their efforts to provide basic needs for unhoused college students. As part of their food resource program, volunteers shop for and deliver groceries to Los Angeles college students facing food insecurity and assemble backpacks containing hygiene, clothing and medical items which they donate to organizations that serve Los Angeles’ unhoused community. They also attend research conferences and share their mission through presentations and events.
Bruin Shelter partnered with other service-oriented student groups to create a Community Service Commission of the Undergraduate Students Association Council. The group successfully advocated for UCLA to eliminate dining hall restriction for students with overdue tuition fees.
UCLA students Wong and Xu have come away from this experience with a deeper understanding of the complex issues surrounding housing insecurity and the importance of addressing basic needs for their peers, along with the power of getting involved and working for a better world.
Xu says, “I've been able to see these tangible changes that we've made, and it reminds you that as a student, you have so much power to effect change in your community. No action is too small and we should all use that to our advantage to create a more equitable environment.”
Wong says, “You are only in college for such a short time, I think you should really spend that time doing something that is both impactful to the broader community and meaningful to you. As students, we have so much more power than we realize; what you do really matters to other people.”
Donations to Bruin Shelter go towards providing basic needs to students experiencing housing insecurity, including hygiene and first aid products, groceries, clothing and school supplies. They are seeking a new shelter location, and in the meantime, they are working to connect college students with rent-free and supportive housing options. If you would like to donate, please click here and be sure to indicate your donation is on behalf of Bruin Shelter.
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