Peyton Baksh was 12 years old when he was placed in foster care.
At the age of 19, and discontent with the system, he opted out with nowhere to go leaving him transient and unsheltered for the last four years.
“I was on the streets,” Baksh said. “My thoughts at the time were, ‘How did I end up here?’ And it would put me into a depression spiral. So I tried to change my thoughts into, ‘How am I going to get out of here? What can I do?’”
Baksh said things changed when a kind stranger offered him $100 earlier this year, which he used to buy himself food, personal hygiene items, and a $40 tent he set up in a wooded area, off Osceola Parkway in Kissimmee.
That small tent became his home, and it was the morale boost he said he needed. It was inside that tent this past spring that Baksh decided to reach out to his former case worker who, along with the help of other local organizations, got him enrolled at Valencia College full time to study computer science.
He took his first classes online over the summer, while still living in a tent in the woods.
The conditions were harsh. As a homeless college student, Baksh said he would often have to choose between fulfilling his academic obligations or meeting his basic needs.
“I was concerned about ‘Where am I gonna get food? Where am I going to go to the bathroom? Where am I going to shower next?’ I was very stressed,” Baksh said. “I only had so much time to do my school work, which started to make my grades suffer.”
Baksh said, one day, it rained so much that water leaked into his tent and ruined his laptop. Although he eventually got help to get another one, the setback was frustrating and demoralizing.
And Baksh said the hurdles kept coming. He said not having access to enough food led him to rapid weight loss, being outside in the heat all day meant he often suffered from heat exhaustion. He said even something as simple as getting water was a task because he had to trek through the woods and across the street to go and get water from a gas station spigot.
Not an isolated case
By design, higher education is meant to be difficult, but for students who are couch surfing, sleeping in their cars, or trying to find a place to lay their heads at night, it can be unmanageable.
Data on this demographic is scant, but a U.S. Department of Education survey found that at least 8% of college students experience homelessness at one point or another. Another study by researchers from the University of Michigan puts the number closer to 11%. A most conservative estimate means 1.5 to nearly 2 million college students nationwide — tens of thousands in the Sunshine State.
Each story is unique, but Baksh’s experiences reflect those of many local college students, according to Kate Santich, director of communications at the Homeless Services Network of Central Florida.
She said students can be particularly difficult to help because many hide their circumstances to avoid shame in social and academic circles.
“There are a fair number of college students who are living in their cars. Their home is a parking lot somewhere, and maybe they're showering in the gym on campus, for the most part, trying to fly under the radar,” Santich said.
The federally-funded organization is handling a growing number of unhoused youth and young adults, ages 16 to 24. Santich said these numbers are expected to increase.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Central Florida has the highest increase for this age group in the state. Last year, the agency awarded the nonprofit with a two-year, $8 million federal grant to help serve this vulnerable age group. The HSNCFL then launched their Brighter Days initiative this spring.
Santich said that, without intervention, unhoused young adults and college students like Baksh could end up chronically homeless. According to HUD, chronically homeless means that a person has been homeless more than a year or at least four times over the past three years totaling at least 12 months.
“The idea is that if you can intervene at this point in life, it is transformational. You really change the trajectory of a young person's life,” she said. “You get them out of a cycle where they're just merely trying to survive and help them have a more level playing field.”
For those attending college, this intervention could pay off in the long term.
What are the solutions?
According to the state of Florida, higher education is a key pathway to breaking the cycle of poverty. College degrees are directly linked to gainful employment with higher wages, lower unemployment rates, higher chances of becoming civically engaged, and even better health.
The Department of Children and Families works with the Department of Education to grant services like tuition waivers and fee exemptions for homeless children and youth until age 21. Former foster care youth like Baksh are eligible for free tuition until age 28.
Between the school years 2013 and 2021, Florida records show, more than 3,500 students using tuition exemptions graduated with college degrees from two and four-year institutions.
But tuition alone doesn’t guarantee success.
In fact, that study by the Journal of Postsecondary Student Success found that housing insecure students are significantly less likely to finish college. The study also shows correlation between housing and food insecurities.
Rajni Shankar-Brown, a professor and chair of social justice education at Stetson University in DeLand and the president of the National Coalition for the Homeless Board, is an advocate for college students experiencing homelessness.
“We have to do better culturally and societally,” she said.
According to Shankar-Brown, the issue is multidimensional, extending into economic, cultural, and social justice. She said it must be addressed through a trauma-sensitive lens and with an educated approach.
“Students struggling with fundamental basic human rights and needs often experience intersectional traumas, and we see there are also many academic challenges due to stress, lack of focus, fatigue,” she said.
Shankar-Brown said that when the conversation of homeless students happens it usually revolves around ages K through 12, leaving out college students, who are often an afterthought.
She said the age of college students drives discussions into counterproductive and stigmatizing rhetoric. For her, the main problem is a lack of public awareness and the key is in changing public perception through campaigns and training.
“When you look across the U.S., even as we're talking about poverty, homelessness, even with growing numbers and compounded issues, we still continue to see a lot of stereotypes, really a lack of full education around these issues,” she said.
Shankar-Brown said higher education institutions, educators, and staff all need to work together with local community partners to help provide relief for unhoused students. In recent years, she said, there’s been a rise in food pantries in colleges and universities across the U.S.
She said used clothing boutiques, showers, mental health counseling, access to healthcare, and connections to housing are all just a few of the things campuses can do to help. Especially during a time when things like washing up or sleeping in public spaces are being criminalized and punished with arrest.
“Criminalization of homelessness is at an all time high. People are being fined for sleeping in their car, for sleeping unsheltered, trying to seek resources, and we start to see the elevated fear,” she said. “These are students. We need to do better.”
A work in progress
Back with Baksh, he tells his story from inside the downtown Orlando Service and Love Together location, also known as SALT. It's a drop-in center for people experiencing homelessness that offers showers, laundry machines, and mail services for public use, as well as outreach and case management.
Baksh comes here every Friday because it’s the one day a week when youth clients are allowed to enter, away from heat and outdoor elements, just to relax, socialize, and hang out.
His case worker and youth support specialist from Brighter Days is in the office with him. Her name is Mayra Freed. She was once also a college student navigating the foster care system and homelessness, just like Baksh.
Laughing with Baksh, Freed remembers when he first arrived at the HSNCFL, looking for help and guidance. Today, Baksh serves on the network’s Youth Action Society board, helping the organization build a better program for other youth who might be unhoused and lost.
Freed said she’s proud of him.
“This initiative is not only to be youth centered, but it's to be youth led. So Peyton, he gives kudos and credit to all these people, right? And it's deserved, but I have to give credit to Peyton, because he is leading this initiative just like it's meant to be led,” she said. “I commend you for that, Peyton.”
Baksh said he’s taken full advantage of his local and state resources available to him to get ahead — DCF, IDignity, Keys to Independence, Christian Service Center, Valencia College. His diligence has yielded food stamps, healthcare, free transportation, and even a little cash every month.
Perhaps most notably, Baksh was able to get into transitional housing. He’s currently living with four other male roommates downtown.
Although he’s still technically considered “homeless” because transitional housing is not permanent, Baksh said that a roof over his head has made a difference that cannot be overstated — especially for school this fall semester.
“I don't have to worry about food. I can use my EBT, got food. I can cook. I got a stove. I have A/C, I don't need to worry about the heat. I can go get water from the kitchen. So, it's like I don't have to worry about that stuff. I can sit in my room, on my bed, open my computer, charge, and do my school work,” Baksh said.
But as he gets older some aid will end. Not to worry, he said. His case managers have already helped him apply for Social Security Disability Income, so he’s not worried about cash while he gets his degree. After transitional housing, Brighter Days will continue supporting Baksh until he makes it to bridge housing, and eventually, he reaches independence. He said he has a plan.
And while said he understands that not everyone in his situation will be as lucky as he has been, he said he hopes his story might help someone else not lose hope.
Because while he’s felt the stigma of being judged when walking into stores, seen as nothing but a homeless person, he said he’s also felt the kindness and support of an entire community.
“I like to think of life as when a bunch of stuff happens, whether it's good or bad, it's a lesson. So, in a way, it's a work in progress. And sometimes you just gotta say. ‘Take one step at a time, one day at a time,’” Baksh said.
Baksh’s goal is to eventually get into his own apartment. When he finishes his current endeavors, he said he might shoot for a four-year degree.
Lillian Hernández Caraballo is a Report For America corps member.
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