By Dianne Anderson

‘Tis the season to be jolly, especially for those who can afford dinner.

That’s easier said than done for many students facing extra pressure to make the grade during finals while sleeping in their cars.

Danielle Munoz said CSULB understands that the term ‘starving students’ is a real concept.

“It’s just been a stressful year for the students. During the holidays it gets harder to cook, visit family, or have food. I do think it’s a different kind of stress or pressure the students are facing,” said Munoz, Director of Basic Needs at California State University, Long Beach.

Holiday needs usually go up this time of year, but these days it’s basically year-round. Some watch their friends go home for a good meal and they don’t have to worry about food, but about half of the students receive Pell Grants and have families who limit spending this time of year.

To stand in the gap, Munoz said CSULB is giving out food gift cards, meal swipe drives, and access to the beach pantry so students can access nutritious meals.

“Right now we’re gearing up for a meal swipe drive next week where we collect funds that go directly to meal swipes. We load them on student IDs and they can eat at dining halls,” she said.

For students without families to go home to, or if the home is unsafe, emergency housing is available. Their program has 12 dorm beds, hotel vouchers, and helps students transition from living in their cars to apartments.

Case management also helps students connect to mental health services, counseling for stress and financial strain. Their Wellness Ambassador Training outreaches across campus, partnering with the Culture Center and tutoring centers to keep resources upfront.

In just the first two months of school, they saw 35 students living in their cars, and demand for help spiked. They try to get them into counseling, and many with poor mental health issues can be tied back to finances.

“We saw 800 referrals between August 26 and October 31 from students, faculty, or staff who knew someone in need. It’s a type of crisis, losing homes, eviction notices, living in cars, poor mental health, and limited resources,” she said.

But, she said there is some opportunity in crisis. When the threat of cuts to SNAP came out, they mass emailed 42,000 students campus-wide to spotlight their resources and programs.

Munoz, who has worked with the basic needs program for the past decade, feels that the main driver of increased poverty is skyrocketing rent costs.

“Everyone is going through this, even well-adjusted people. Faculty and staff are also struggling, looking for other jobs. It’s a systems issue,” she said.

Policy change is the answer, which she said comes from people brave enough to tell their stories.

Munoz has advocated in Sacramento on behalf of homeless students, and now that work is starting to show up in legislation. The university stays focused on collecting accurate data, and the chancellor takes that data to legislators, which in recent years has led to more support for students facing food and housing insecurity.

She reminds students that it’s not their fault.

Recent legislation has funded rapid rehousing, campus food programs, and CalFresh. Colleges recognize the link between anxiety, depression, and not having enough food or stable housing.

With CSU’s Graduation Initiative 2025, all campuses received money to fund Basic Needs Centers and mental health services.

“Systemic issues require systemic solutions,” she said. “Students often internalize failure, and my students of color may see it as a character flaw. Add on layers of discrimination, harassment, and assumptions, and that’s another layer of pressure.”

For the first seven years of her work, she brought her students’ stories back to Sacramento, connecting with legislators and staffers to get the data before the policymakers.

They also offer Wellness Ambassador Training, a series in partnership with Munoz and Amanda De Loera-Morales, director of CSULB Counseling and Psychological Services. Their peer ambassador team tables across campus, and partners with the Culture Center to provide office hours, snacks, and information at tutoring centers.

Keeping students aware of services is critical.

Several recent studies, including a Healthy Minds Study and American College Health Association, show college students are dealing with sustained mental health issues.

Over one-third of students report moderate to severe depression or anxiety, and 11 to 15 percent have considered suicide in the past year. High stress, loneliness, and feeling isolated are common, but the impact is heavier for LGBTQIA+, first-generation, and low-income students, who usually face greater barriers to getting help.

Lately, De Loera-Morales said that instability seems like the norm, but Long Beach students are resilient. The campus offers many supportive resources, but it’s important to get the full story from students.

Some issues are not exclusively mental health.

“We can best assess what’s going on,” she said. “It may look like mental health, but it may be nourishment. We have a beach pantry available to students. Our job is to make sure that they are aware of the resource.”

Calls coming in related to a rise in anxiety have increased lately, and she said students are not necessarily able to identify what they are feeling. It could be a lack of resources, needs, or just a general crisis.

“Because of how unstable everything feels, they are often not always able to place what it is that they are experiencing, other than knowing they are feeling on edge, or other than what their norm is,” she said.

Pressure is also piling up in the coming weeks in the countdown to final exams, and the challenges are snowballing.

Problems, like relationships, and family take up mental health space. Usually, it’s not just one issue, but several things, like being a student, a caregiver, and a primary income earner, all at once.

Hires have gone down at a time when students can usually pick up extra cash, and that adds more stress.

“What do you do? Do I try to find another job and compromise my classes? This is a time when you see a pickup in employment where folks count on seasonal jobs. Our students don’t have that to lean on,” she said.

The goal is to normalize mental health help for students so they don’t feel strange about asking for help.

She wants students to know they have a community, and it’s okay to talk about their problems.

“That’s why we create the spaces that are not one-on-one, but less formalized, still giving someone the opportunity to consult with somebody,” she said. “The more we talk about it, the more it’s normalized. The more students will recognize the gift of our instructors when they talk about mental health, it destigmatizes anyone trying to get treatment.”

For CSULB Basic Needs Program, see https://www.csulb.edu/student-affairs/basic-needs

or call 562-985-2038