In L.A., resources grow for homeless community college students
After living in her truck for three months with her teenage daughter and dog Snoopy, Alix Silverman decided it was time to go to college.
She had always worked minimum wage jobs to make rent, but she found herself homeless after getting injured on the job. So when the city of Los Angeles approved her for Section 8 housing, Ms. Silverman, who has a GED, knew she had to take advantage of her new federally subsidized rent and enrolled in the community college down the street.
“I always wanted to go to college but I never had money for anything else [besides rent]...,” says the forty-something Ms. Silverman. “I was like: This is my opportunity.”
Silverman plans to graduate from Los Angeles Valley College (LAVC) next year with an associate’s degree in art history. She hopes to transfer to a four-year college – ideally UCLA – to earn her bachelor’s degree so she can find a job in art history research.
“I’m not even an artist, I just love to work around art and the history of people
'It was so embarrassing.'A student-run shelterLooking ahead
