It’s believed to be the first of its kind in California. Students at Santa Monica College (SMC) are now able to take classes on how to help the homeless.
The college said the response has been enthusiastic as some 70 people applied for 20 spots in a one-year program that earns them a certificate degree.
Leepi Shimkhada is one of the teachers of Santa Monica College’s new program to teach students how to help the homeless and get people into housing.
“I’ve got one student who drives the bus, and she says she goes through Skid Row every single day. And she wants to try to help,” said Shimkhada. "A lot of folks have either experienced homeless themselves in the class or have family members who’ve experienced it.”
Get top local stories in Southern California delivered to you every morning. Sign up for NBC LA's News Headlines newsletter.
The goal of the program is to help fill the more than 1,000 jobs geared toward helping the homeless in Los Angeles County, including case managers and field workers. Measures like HHH and H as well as recently passed Measure A have helped fund more housing and services, but there aren’t enough workers to meet the demand.
“I thought it was amazing that something like this was being offered,” says student Tai Harris.
“There’s so much impactful information the outside world is not learning,” says SMC student William Johnson. “I’m here to serve and give back as much as I can.”
SMC’s Associate Dean of Career Education Steven Sedky said the one-year program also offers a field work course so students can be out on the streets, working with different organizations with the city on the front lines with the unhouse.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services agency (LAHSA) is funding the program and providing the students with full scholarships.
Shimkhada said her students want to be part of the solution.
"They come from very different places in life, but they all we all see what’s happening on our streets," Shimkhada said.
SMC said the next phase is to spread the program to other community colleges in Southern California with a dream eventually to expand it.
