SCU Unhoused Initiative

Go ALL OUT for the Unhoused Initiative – April 23rd!

SCU’s Day of Giving is coming up on Wednesday, April 23rd! The Day of Giving is an annual twenty-four hour fundraiser dedicating to supporting the student experience. This year, the Unhoused Initiative is raising funds for undergraduate and law school experiential learning courses, student internships at local non-profit organizations, service oriented opportunities, and campus events highlighting how the homelessness crisis impacts our community.

In a few short years, the UI has grown into a year-round coordinated effort to harness the myriad resources within our SCU community to forge meaningful improvements in the local response to the homelessness crisis. The UI offers campus events, course work and service opportunities centered on homelessness and rooted in community partnerships. Through an internal grant program, we support faculty research that is informing local policy and advocacy. In partnership with student researchers and organizations, we are reducing stigma and misinformation related to homelessness. By collaborating with administrators and staff focused on campus life, we are advocating for ways to address student housing insecurity. Because of our faculty’s dedication to promoting the dignity and humanity of our unhoused neighbors, students have access to experiential learning opportunities – Senior Capstone, ELSJ, and an upcoming legal clinic course – centered on service and advocacy. 

We hope you will support the Unhoused Initiative and our commitment to building a more humane, just and sustainable world for our unhoused neighbors, our community and all Broncos.

If you would like to support the Unhoused Initiative and social justice in action, please visit the UI’s Day of Giving website. Thank you!

SCU Unhoused Initiative

Honoring Our Unhoused Neighbors

On November 18 and 19, the Unhoused Initiative hosted an outdoor art display of the Tombstone Memorial for our unhoused neighbors who died on the street in Santa Clara County this year. Each year, local activist, Shaunn Cartwright, makes a tombstone for each person who died while homeless in the County. A representative sample of the current 195 deaths this year (as of Nov. 18, 2024) were on the Kenna/Benson lawn to raise awareness on campus about homelessness and homeless mortality. It was also an opportunity to acknowledge the 10th anniversary of the sweep of The Jungle in San Jose – one of the largest encampments in the country at the time.

A noontime panel complemented the tombstone display. The panel discussed homeless mortality and the health and safety impacts of encampment sweeps. It was also a reflection on the sweep of the Jungle in 2014 and the community that resided there. Panelists included Shaunn Cartwright, creator of the Tombstone Memorial project, Robert Aguirre, member of the Gilroy Homeless Union, Todd Langton, Executive Director of Agape Silicon Valley, and Unhoused Initiative faculty member, Professor Boo Riley. The panel was the first in a year-long series examining encampment sweeps, past, present and future.

Click here for more information about the Tombstone Memorial, the Jungle, and our panelists.

SCU Unhoused Initiative

UI Affiliates Honored at CAS Convocation

Sarita Tamayo-Moraga

On Tuesday, September 17th, SCU’s College of Arts & Sciences held their Convocation and Awards to kick-off the 2024-25 academic year. Two UI-affiliated faculty received College Awards at the event.

UI Faculty alum, Sarita Tamayo-Moraga, received the Prof. Francisco Jimenez Reaching Out Award in recognition of her dedication to the local community and serving society’s most disadvantaged and underserved members. In particular, Sarita was selected for her commitment to our unhoused neighbors and her collaboration with the mobile showers program through Catholic Charities, Santa Clara County. Sarita has dedicated countless hours to this partnership, providing students with the opportunity to serve at the mobile showers program which provides people experiencing homelessness with a hot shower, clean laundry and other hygiene necessities.

CJ Gabbe

Additionally, current UI Faculty Grant recipient, Prof. CJ Gabbe, received the Dr. David E. Logothetti Teaching Award. The award is given in recognition of having established among colleagues and students a reputation for an energetic, engaging and effective teaching style. In his work with the UI, CJ is currently researching the impacts of the heat index on unhoused populations to inform a network of policies in Santa Clara County.

Congratulations to Sarita and CJ on these well-deserved awards!