Responding to Community College Student Homelessness: An Assessment of the HOPE Scholars Program

Background: Basic needs insecurity remains an urgent issue in higher education. Specifically, California Community Colleges (CCC) students, particularly marginalized students, experience high rates of insecurity with food and housing. Almost 46% of CCC students experience food insecurity and 20% experience homelessness (Brohawn et al., 2025). Compounding this challenge, community colleges rarely offer housing support. Stable housing plays a critical role in students’ physical and mental health, well-being, and academic retention (Martinez et al., 2021). This study assesses The HOPE Scholars program, an innovative wrap around housing intervention to address homelessness at a community college campus and provides evidence-based recommendations grounded in student voice. Findings provide insight on students’ experiences accessing program services, identifying key facilitators, barriers, and gaps in programmatic responses.

Methods: Students (N = 27) who were or were previously enrolled in HOPE participated in interviews and focus groups. A semi-structured protocol was used to explore how participants found, applied for, and experienced in the program. Participants responded to an assessment survey that explored their housing and food security, demographic indicators, financial well-being, and access to other support services. Qualitative data was transcribed, coded, and analyzed using thematic analysis strategies (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Descriptive data provided insights on students’ levels of security and perceived outcomes of the program. Both deductive and inductive analyses were used to generate emergent codes, themes, and patterns.

Results: Findings showed participants indicated that HOPE Scholars was overwhelmingly effective in addressing their homelessness, ensuring long-term housing stability, increasing their feeling of college belonging, and enhancing retention. Participants crediting supportive, student-centered staff and comprehensive services for their persistence, well-being, and academic success. Participants described the program as accessible and easy to navigate. Investigation of process showed a tightly webbed network amongst campus programs that enhanced participants ability to access a broad array of programs serving marginalized populations, peer networks, and online resources. This included critical resources for housing, finance, and psycho-social and academic supports.

Participants emphasized that housing assistance, including residential housing through a unique and established partnership with a local private college, allowed stable housing rarely provided for through community colleges. Though the program demonstrated promising practices, areas for growth remained, including greater clarity in eligibility, additional funding to expand staff capacity and services, sustained investment in staff and administrator expertise and trauma-informed care, and expanded online services to increase accessibility.

Conclusion and Implications: Findings suggest that the HOPE Scholars program serves as a promising model for community colleges and other higher education institutions across the country. Results showed that comprehensive housing and basic needs support is essential not only for students’ academic success, but for their overall well-being. Ongoing administrative leadership and institutional commitment remain critical to ensure sustained growth and continued progress in addressing student homelessness. These findings provide guidance both for the continued development and improvement of HOPE Scholars and for institutions seeking to strengthen their own basic needs initiatives.