SACRAMENTO, Calif. — State legislators as well as faculty and students met to address basic needs not being met at the Sacramento State University "Students' Basic Needs and Academic Success" forum. They addressed issues like access to food, housing, and student health care and even graduation rates and access to mental health.
"I grew up in foster care and so I never went to high school," said Linn, a student at Sac State who spoke at the forum. "I ended up committing crimes to survive after 18 and so I went in and out of jail for several years until I went to prison at 28."
Despite its beginning, Linn's story is a success story.
She taught herself to read while in prison, got her GED, and eventually started classes in community college. Now, in just two weeks, she'll graduate from Sacramento State with a degree in social work, and she says it was education that saved her.
"That's honestly what has rehabilitated me..." explained Linn. "So, when I think that I might have to drop out because I have to feed my family or I have to have gas to take my grandchildren to the doctor or something like that, it's really scary for me.
At the end of every month, Linn says has $40 dollars, and, most of the time, that money ends up buying a book that she needs for school. She often relies on food pantries to supplement her food.
This food scarcity is well known by campus leaders at Sac State. The school runs a food pantry that students can use, and, this year alone, 6,000 students have visited in order to eat. This is part of why student body president Noel Mora has taken up the cause to address unmet needs.
"It's the anxiety behind that insecurity, whether it's food or housing or something else, that I think affects student achievement," said Mora. "It affects students success and graduation and retention rates overall, and that's why we've made such an effort, whether it's the university or students helping other students to address basic needs."
Mora said those basic needs are obvious.
"Seeing first hand students that sleep out of their cars in parking lots, the student parent who is taking care of a child and can't be put in a shared room for emergency housing," explained Mora. "I think that students and different types of students are going to be at that especially vulnerable place."
Mora said that the problems for students at Sac State are just a symptom of the problem.
"We forget students and a university is a microcosm of the larger state," Mora explained. "You know, students basic needs are California's basic needs."
An area many overlook are graduation rates. University President Robert Nelsen, who also spoke at the forum, said they're working to tackle the issue. He admits the four year rate is only 14 percent.
Still, there are success stories. Tammy Linn was granted a full pardon by the governor, and she has already taken her graduation photos. She is looking to walk in two weeks for the ceremony and said she's leaving Sac State feeling like she gained a family.
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