In the fall of 2021, Emma Johnson was ready to move into her new apartment and begin her senior year at UC San Diego. The school guarantees campus dorms for students’ first two years, but most juniors and seniors live off campus.
When Johnson opened the door to her apartment, she found 2 inches of water inside. She and her roommates didn’t have renters insurance, and the landlord declared he’d have to gut the unit.
One by one, Johnson’s roommates found friends to crash with or leased new apartments with their parents as cosigners. But Johnson, who paid for school and her living expenses with a Pell Grant—federal funding granted to students with exceptional financial need that does not need to be repaid—and federal loans, suddenly found herself homeless.
Read more at SFGATE.
