Homelessness and Food Insecurity Action Week at USD
The Urgent Challenges Collective is excited to offer several events in the Fall 2024 semester for our campus to learn more about homelessness and housing insecurity. We will be hosting Homelessness and Housing Insecurity Action Week from October 28 to November 1, 2024.
For the past five years, the Collective has collaborated with partners both on and off campus to focus attention on homelessness and housing insecurity during our Action Week. This year's program will include events that provide opportunities to meaningfully engage and address these multidimensional issues. Homelessness and Housing Insecurity Action Week 2024 will offer both in-person and virtual events.
This listing below includes an abbreviated version of the Action Week calendar.
Monday, October 28th
Film Showing and Discussion: Under the Bridge: The Criminalization of Homelessness (LC 202 from 5-7 pm) (Dinner provided) Registration Link
Tuesday, October 29th
Community Conversations: What’s Happening with Homelessness? (Grace Liu -Group Program Manager, County of San Diego Finance & General Government Group Executive Office) (Zoom from 12:30-1:30) Zoom Link
Wednesday, October 30th
Roundtable Discussion on Homelessness in San Diego (KCBE 114/116 - Nexus Theater from 12:30-2:00 pm) [Lunch provided] Registration Link
Friday, November 1st
Field Trip to GLM Housing (12:30 pm - 2:30 pm)
[10 students max] [Lunch provided] Registration Link
*We encourage you to make a donation to PATH'sHoliday Drive.Donate a fleece blanket by December 13th.
MONDAY, OCTOBER 30
Rachel's Night Shelter Program
Co-Sponsored with University Ministry
4:00 pm - 6:15 pm Pacific Time | In-Person
Once a month, USD students and University Ministry staff prepare and share dinner with residents at Rachel’s Night Shelter, a shelter for women experiencing homelessness in downtown San Diego. Sitting down for a meal with the women is an invitation to encounter, as we each learn more about each other and ourselves. We will prepare a meal together in the UM kitchen on campus starting at 3:00pm and then leave campus around 5:00pm to drop the meal off downtown for residents to enjoy. All of the cooking supplies are provided by the University Ministry. All USD students, faculty, staff, and administrators are welcome -- but spaces are limited so please register in advance.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31
Community Conversations: What's Happening With Homelessness?
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Pacific Time | Zoom
Would you like to learn more about the realities of homelessness in San Diego? Join the co-directors of USD’s Urgent Challenges Collective (Homelessness Initiative) for informal learning and conversation. Once a month, we meet to discuss local news and share resources that may be of interest. This event is open to all interested participants (students, faculty, staff, local community members, and more). No prior knowledge about homelessness is required or expected! For this Community Conversation, our guest will be Irene Del Mastro from UCLA, who will be discussing her research that focuses on the unique experiences of unhoused women in Southern California.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Film Screening - The Way Home
5:30 - 7:30 PM | In-Person | Learning Commons 210
Join us for the film screening of short-form documentary, The Way Home. This informative and revealing documentary focuses on the current homelessness epidemic in California - the state with the largest population of homeless people in the USA. Drs. Mike Williams and Odilka Santiago, Co-Directors of the Urgent Challenges Collective, will lead a discussion after the screening. This event will take place in Learning Commons 210. PIZZA PROVIDED!
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 2
Community Conversations: What's Happening With Homelessness?
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Pacific Time | Zoom
Would you like to learn more about the realities of homelessness in San Diego? Join the co-directors of USD’s Urgent Challenges Collective (Homelessness Initiative) for informal learning and conversation. Once a month, we meet to discuss local news and share resources that may be of interest. This event is open to all interested participants (students, faculty, staff, local community members, and more). No prior knowledge about homelessness is required or expected! For this Community Conversation, our guest will be Amelia Broadnax from the Uptown Community Center, who will discuss housing first and housing ready approaches to sheltering unhoused folk in San Diego.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 3
Basic Tenants Know Your Rights Workshop
12:00 - 2:00 pm | In-Person | Learning Commons 107
Join us as community advocates from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) facilitate a workshop to inform tenants of landlord-tenant laws in San Diego and the protections tenants have against eviction. In addition, tenants learn about the power of tenant organizing and where to seek help if they have an eviction lawsuit filed against them. In addition, tenants learn about the power of tenant organizing and where to seek help if they have an eviction lawsuit filed against them. The workshop is offered in English with Spanish interpretation available. LUNCH PROVIDED!
*The San Diego Eviction Prevention Collaborative, in partnership with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, offers a Basic Tenants’ Rights Workshop to inform tenants of landlord-tenant laws in San Diego and the protections tenants have against eviction.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Film Screening - Break and Enter
6:00 - 7:30 PM | In-Person | Learning Commons 202
Come see this fascinating documentary about activists in 1970s New York who struggled to reclaim vacant buildings to escape homelessness. This film provides context to understand America’s current housing and homelessness crisis. Dr. Odilka Santiago (Sociology) will lead a discussion after the screening. SNACKS PROVIDED!
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8
Rachel's Night Shelter Program
Co-Sponsored with University Ministry
4:00 pm - 6:15 pm Pacific Time | In-Person
Once a month, USD students and University Ministry staff prepare and share dinner with residents at Rachel’s Night Shelter, a shelter for women experiencing homelessness in downtown San Diego. Sitting down for a meal with the women is an invitation to encounter, as we each learn more about each other and ourselves. We will prepare a meal together in the UM kitchen on campus starting at 3:00pm and then leave campus around 5:00pm to drop the meal off downtown for residents to enjoy. All of the cooking supplies are provided by University Ministry. All USD students, faculty, staff, and administrators are welcome -- but spaces are limited so please register in advance.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9
Community Conversations: What's Happening With Homelessness?
11:00 am - 12:00 pm Pacific Time | Zoom
Would you like to learn more about the realities of homelessness in San Diego? Join the co-directors of USD’s Urgent Challenges Collective (Homelessness Initiative) for informal learning and conversation. Once a month, we meet to discuss local news and share resources that may be of interest. This event is open to all interested participants (students, faculty, staff, local community members, and more). No prior knowledge about homelessness is required or expected!
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10
Homelessness and Housing Insecurity Research Summit
12:30 - 2:00 pm | In-Person | Learning Commons 202
Join us as faculty/student research teams discuss the research projects that they participated in during 2022. The research teams will share their findings with respect to policing and homelessness, evictions, and shelters in San Diego. LUNCH PROVIDED!
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11
Basic Tenants Know Your Rights Workshop
12:00 - 2:00 pm | In-Person | Learning Commons 107
Join us as community advocates from the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE) facilitate a workshop to inform tenants of landlord-tenant laws in San Diego and the protections tenants have against eviction. In addition, tenants learn about the power of tenant organizing and where to seek help if they have an eviction lawsuit filed against them. In addition, tenants learn about the power of tenant organizing and where to seek help if they have an eviction lawsuit filed against them. The workshop is offered in English with Spanish interpretation available. LUNCH PROVIDED!
*The San Diego Eviction Prevention Collaborative, in partnership with the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, offers a Basic Tenants’ Rights Workshop to inform tenants of landlord-tenant laws in San Diego and the protections tenants have against eviction.
The Urgent Challenges Collective will be hosting Homelessness Action Week from November 1-7, 2021. Last year's virtual action week provided opportunities for our campus community to learn more about homelessness and housing in an online setting. This year's program will include events that provide opportunities to meaningfully engage and address these multidimensional issues. Homelessness Action Week 2021 will offer both in-person and virtual events.
This listing below includes an abbreviated version of the Action Week calendar; full event descriptions can be found on our Events page.
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Community Conversations: What's Happening With Homelessness?
Co-Sponsored with the CEE Just Read! Program
11:30 am - 12:30 pm Pacific Time | Zoom
Would you like to learn more about the realities of homelessness in San Diego? Join the co-directors of USD's Urgent Challenges Collective (Homelessness Initiative) for informal learning and conversation. Once a month, we meet to discuss local news and share resources that may be of interest. This event is open to all interested participants (students, faculty, staff, local community members, and more). No prior knowledge about homelessness is required or expected! These events are co-sponsored by the Urgent Challenges Collective and the USD Center for Educational Excellence's Just Read! Program.
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2
Rachel's Night Shelter Program
Co-Sponsored with University Ministry
4:00 pm - 6:15 pm Pacific Time | In-Person
Once a month, USD students and University Ministry staff prepare and share dinner with residents at Rachel's Night Shelter, a shelter for women experiencing homelessness in downtown San Diego. Sitting down for a meal with the women is an invitation into encounter, as we each learn more about each other and ourselves. Because the shelter is operating under strict COVID restrictions, University Ministry is offering abbreviated visits this semester. We will prepare a meal together in the UM kitchen on campus starting at 3:00pm and then leave campus around 5:00pm to drop the meal off downtown for residents to enjoy. All of the cooking supplies are provided by University Ministry. All USD students, faculty, staff, and administrators are welcome -- but spaces are limited so please register in advance!
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 3
Homelessness and the Church
Co-Sponsored with the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Pacific Time | Zoom
Join us for this event about the ways in which Catholics and Christians are working to address homelessness locally and across the nation. What impact is the Church having in meeting the immediate needs of those who are unhoused? How are Christians contributing to larger-scale societal change? And, what are some promising models for that we might consider for moving forward? Our panel will feature two esteemed guest speakers: Deacon Jim F. Vargas, OFS (President and CEO, Father Joe's Villages) and Dr. Laura Stivers (Professor of Ethics, Dominican University of California). USD's own Dr. Odilka Santiago (Assistant Professor, Sociology) will offer a response to the two presentations and also moderate the question and answer session.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Addressing Homelessness in San Diego: Conversation with Hafsa Kaka, Director of San Diego's Homeless Strategies and Solutions Department
12:30 pm - 1:30 pm Pacific Time | Zoom
Join us for a special event featuring Hafsa Kaka, director of San Diego's newly-established Homeless Strategies and Solutions Department. Learn more about the city's ongoing efforts to address homelessness in San Diego and how you can get involved in this work!
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4
Game Night with PATH Residents
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm Pacific Time | In-Person
The Urgent Challenges Collective and Pancakes: Serving Up Hope are hosting a game night for the residents at PATH (People Assisting the Homeless) in San Diego! Come ready to eat, laugh, get to know others, and join in on the games. This opportunity is open to all students, faculty, staff, and administrators at USD. Spots are limited so please only sign up if you are 100% positive you can attend. Transportation is not provided but carpooling might be an option.
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 4-7
River Census with the San Diego River Park Foundation
6:30 am - 9:30 am Pacific Time | In-Person at various locations
Volunteer to take part in the River Census! This four-day event (November 4-7) is co-sponsored by the San Diego River Park Foundation and the Urgent Challenges Collective as part of USD's third annual Homelessness Action Week. Volunteers will help to map where encampments are located along the river, which can provide life-or-death data in situations of flooding and more. Sign up for one day or multiple and get your friends/colleagues to come along!
Additional Action Week Events
USD Just Read! Community Reading Circle
This community reading circle is being led by the co-directors of USD's Urgent Challenges Collective (Homelessness Initiative) and is open to all! USD students, staff, faculty members, and local community members are all invited to learn and engage in conversation together. Our featured text for the fall semester is Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship. All participants in the reading circle will be provided with free access to the text.
PATH Fundraiser and Supply Drive
Throughout the month of October, the Urgent Challenges Collective is coordinating a fundraiser/supplies drive to support one of our partner organizations in the local community called PATH (People Assisting the Homeless). PATH is a nonprofit that supports persons experiencing homelessness, including those who are moving into permanent housing. Each time a person is placed into housing, PATH provides them with a "Welcome Home Kit" -- a package of essential supplies to help them get started in their new home. Campus organizations are collecting funds and specific items for inclusion in the kit. We will deliver everything to PATH during our game night on 11/4! If you would like to sign up to donate funds or supplies, please email kdeconinck@sandiego.edu.
Thank you to our campus partners for participating: Alcala Club, Toreros Fighting Homelessness, Kappa Alpha Theta, USD Soup Kitchen, Pancakes Serving Up Hope, Students for Life, University Ministry, and UM Rachel's Night Shelter Program
The Urgent Challenges Collective would like to offer sincere thanks to our sponsors for supporting Homelessness Action Week 2021.
- Center for Educational Excellence
- Toreros Fighting Homelessness
- Kappa Alpha Theta
- USD Soup Kitchen
- Pancakes Serving Up Hope
- Students for Life
- University Ministry
- UM Rachel's Night Shelter Program
- Changemaker Hub
- University Ministry
- Center for Catholic Thought and Culture
- Theology and Religious Studies
- Alcala Club
The Urgent Challenges Collective will be hosting Homelessness and Food Insecurity Action Week virtually from September 22-25, 2020. Building off the momentum of last year's Awareness Week, which provided opportunities for our campus community to learn more about these multidimensional issues, this year's Action Week will include events that provide opportunities to meaningfully engage and address them. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, all events will take place via Zoom.
This listing below includes an abbreviated version of the Action Week calendar; full event descriptions can be found on our Events page. Please note that you will need to register in advance of the event in order to receive the Zoom link.
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 22
Speaker Series: Understanding the Upcoming Ballot Measure on Affordable Housing
1:15pm-2:15pm Pacific Time | Zoom (pre-registration required)
Featuring Stephen Russell, Executive Director of the San Diego Housing Federation
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 23
Speaker Series: Fighting for Housing - In Conversation with Conor Dougherty
1:00-2:00pm Pacific Time | Zoom (pre-registration required)
Featuring Conor Dougherty, author of Golden Gates (USD Just Read! book for 2020-2021)
Housing & Food Access Resource Fair: PATH and Think Dignity
2:30-3:30pm Pacific Time | Zoom (pre-registration required)
Learn more about the work being done at PATH and Think Dignity as well as ways in which you can get involved!
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
Speaker Series: The Catholic Worker Movement Then and Now - A Call to Action
12:30-1:30pm Pacific Time | Zoom (pre-registration required)
Featuring three members of the local Catholic Worker movement
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 25
Housing & Food Access Resource Fair: Ebenezer Church, Feeding San Diego, and the USD Food Pantry / Torero Closet
11:00am-12:00pm Pacific Time | Zoom (pre-registration required)
Learn more about the work being done at Ebenezer Church, Feeding San Diego, and the USD Food Pantry and Torero Closet. Discover ways in which you can get involved!
Housing & Food Access Resource Fair: Father Joe's Villages and Yes on Measure A
2:00-3:00pm Pacific Time | Zoom (pre-registration required)
Learn more about the work being done at Father Joe's Villages and Yes on Measure A as well as ways in which you can get involved!
Action Week is hosted by the Urgent Challenges Collective in collaboration with the Changemaker Hub; the Mulvaney Center for Community, Awareness and Social Action; Student Affairs; Student Support Services; the Center for Educational Excellence; the Just Read! Program; the Center for Ethics, Economics and Public Policy; the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture; University Ministry; and, the Torero Renaissance Scholars.
The Urgent Challenges Collective hosted the first Homelessness and Food Insecurity Awareness Week at the University of San Diego from October 21-24, 2019. Awareness Week was an opportunity for our campus community to learn more about these multidimensional issues and think critically & creatively about how to address them. Please feel free to review last year's schedule here...and stay tuned for our Fall 2020 program!
MONDAY, OCTOBER 21 - THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24
Interactive Exhibit on Homelessness and Food Insecurity
9:00am-9:00pm | UC 282 (Across from the Torero Store) Visit the exhibit to learn more about homelessness and food insecurity in the United States, the State of California, and San Diego County. Works from local San Diego Artist Neil Shigley's collection "Invisible People" will be on display. Listen to the stories of our USD community members who are personally impacted by these issues and find out ways to learn more and to take action, including writing a message of hope.TUESDAY, OCTOBER 22
PB and Jammin': Pack Lunches for Our Homeless Neighbors
12:30-2:00pm | Mother Teresa Plaza (outside SLP main dining)
Pack lunches for homeless individuals (to be donated to Father Joe's Villages), listen to music, and learn about our other upcoming events. This event is hosted in collaboration with Students for Life and University Ministry.
Inocente Documentary & Discussion
6:30-8:00pm | Mother Teresa Plaza (rain location: UC Forum B)
Come see this Academy Award-winning documentary about a 15-year-old girl in San Diego who, though homeless and undocumented, refuses to give up on her dream of being an artist. Hosted in collaboration with the Just Read! Program.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 23
Candlelight Vigil
8:15pm | Paseo de Colachis (in front of Founders Hall) Please join us as we remember all those experiencing homelessness, listen to some of their stories, and set an intention to stand in solidarity with them.Mass for Peace
9:00pm | Founders Chapel This week's Mass for Peace will include special intentions for our homeless neighbors. Open to all!THURSDAY, OCTOBER 24
Housing and Food Access Resource Fair
12:00-2:00pm | Immaculata Lawn
Learn about local resources, organizations, and service opportunities for addressing homelessness and food insecurity.
*Students can earn 1 Compass/Connect/Passport point at this event!
What's Next?: Community Meal and Call to Action
7:00pm | KIPJ A
Join us for dinner as we reflect on what we have learned about homelessness and food insecurity and ways in which USD can take action on these issues on and off campus. This will be an interactive event where all students, faculty, staff, and community members are welcome to contribute.
*Students can earn 1 Compass/Connect/Passport point at this event!
Donate to the USD Food Pantry!
Monday-Friday | Outside of Maata'yuum Crossroads, Copley Library, West Parking Structure Tram Stop, Outside of Tu Mercado, & KIPJ Kiosk Please donate non-perishable, non-canned food. Examples: cereal, protein bars, macaroni and cheese, rice, condiments, peanut butter and jelly, laundry pods, body wash, hygiene products. We currently have 100 students registered to use the USD Food Pantry, your generous donation is appreciated!Awareness Week is hosted by the Urgent Challenges Collective in collaboration with the Changemaker Hub, University Ministry, the Mulvaney Center, Student Affairs, Student Support Services, the Center for Educational Excellence, the Just Read! Program, the Humanities Center, the Center for Catholic Thought and Culture, and the Torero Renaissance Scholars.
Past Speakers Series and Community Conversations
Since its inception, the Collective has hosted a series of conversations with local lawyers, nonprofit leaders, and others who work to address homelessness in San Diego. Through informed conversations, we cultivated deeper understanding of homelessness as a multidimensional issue in our community.
Wednesday, September 13th (12:30-1:30 pm via Zoom)
Would you like to learn more about the realities of homelessness in San Diego and throughout the country? Join the co-directors of USD’s Urgent Challenges Collective (Homelessness Initiative) for informal learning and conversation. Once a month, we meet to discuss local news and share resources that may be of interest. This event is open to all interested participants (students, faculty, staff, local community members, and more). No prior knowledge about homelessness is required or expected! For this conversation, we welcome Yesika Menera, USD McNair Scholar, who will discuss her research on, "How Housing Insecurity Impacts Women: A Case Study of Southern California?".
Wednesday, October 11th (1:15pm-2:15pm via Zoom)Would you like to learn more about the realities of homelessness in San Diego and throughout the country? Join the co-directors of USD’s Urgent Challenges Collective (Homelessness Initiative) for informal learning and conversation. Once a month, we meet to discuss local news and share resources that may be of interest. This event is open to all interested participants (students, faculty, staff, local community members, and more). No prior knowledge about homelessness is required or expected! For this conversation, we welcome Alicia Abate, a social worker in San Diego, who will discuss her experiences on providing shelters to unhoused individuals.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 5
4:00 - 5:00 pm | In-Person and Zoom | Room TBD
Join us for a conversation with Dr. Craig Willse. Dr. Willse is an Assistant Professor of Cultural Studies at George Mason University. He has conducted research and published on issues related to homelessness.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 2
4:00 - 5:00 pm | In-Person and Zoom | Room TBD
Join us for a conversation with Dr. Dilara Yarbrough. Dr. Yarbrough is an Assistant Professor at San Francisco State University in the Department of Criminal Justice Studies. She has conducted research and published on issues related to homelessness.
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9
4:00 - 5:00 pm | In-Person and Zoom | Room TBD
Join us for a conversation with the Co-Directors of the Urgent Challenges Collective - Dr. Mike Williams (Political Science/International Relations and Changemaker Hub) and Dr. Odilka Santiago (Sociology). They will discuss initiatives that the Collective is supporting both on and off campus. This event is part of Homelessness Action Week - which is taking place from November 7-11.
- February 9 | Homelessness and Racial Disparities in San Diego
- March 9 | Homelessness During COVID-19
- March 17 | Radical Hospitality and Communities of Belonging
- April 8 | Bridging Homelessness and Community: A Forum on Temporary Storage in Linda Vista
- April 9 | Taking the Lead of Local Organizations to Address Housing Insecurity
- April 20 | Addressing Homelessness Through Policy Advocacy
- August 27 | Covering Homelessness
- September 14 | Homelessness and the Court System
- September 22 | Understanding the Upcoming Ballot Measure on Affordable Housing
- September 23 | Fighting for Housing: In Conversation with Conor Dougherty
- September 24 | The Catholic Worker Movement Then and Now: A Call to Action
- October 7 | Using Economics to Untangle the Housing Paradox
- October 14 | A Conversation About Housing with Gary Geiler
- October 28 | Youth, Homelessness, and Health