As the summer term concludes and the fall semester approaches, BYU students face the annual challenge known as "homeless week."
This period, occurring between the end of summer and the start of the fall semester, leaves many students without a place to call home due to timing gaps in off-campus housing contracts.
“Homeless week is definitely a challenge,” said Wyatt Wimmer, a junior majoring in applied math at BYU.
Wimmer shared that he would prefer semester-based housing contracts to solve this problem.
“It’s not a huge issue for me since I’m flying home to Kansas for two weeks, but it’s definitely a pain for those who don’t have family nearby in Utah,” he said.
Natalya Call, a junior studying elementary education, has experienced this issue firsthand over the past two years.
“Every year, I’ve had to move between apartments, and the homeless period in between forces me to find temporary housing and a place to store all my things,” Call said.
Currently visiting family in Wyoming, Call is feeling the impact of this transition period as she waits for her new apartment to become available.
“Last year, I put some stuff at my aunt’s house and took basically everything else home. This year, my roommate and I split a storage unit and put most of our things there while I took some items back home,” she said.
For those who do not have the option of going home or staying with family, the situation can be more complicated.
Shelly Parcell, a BYU Zumba instructor, and her husband Allen Parcell, a professor in exercise sciences, have extended their home to students in need in the past.
“Every year, I have told the local YSA bishops that I have room for someone who needs it,” Shelly Parcell said. “But honestly, we’ve only hosted one student.”
They did not offer it to anyone this year because their extra rooms are already filled by their own children.
Local YSA bishops also play a role in helping students during homeless week. The local Church community strives to ensure that students know they are not alone and have resources available if needed.
Bishop Alan Rex, who has been a YSA bishop in Provo for about three years, acknowledges the issue and makes an effort to check if students need assistance, even if they do not reach out.
He recalled that, during his time as a BYU student in the 1990s, contracts were shorter, allowing students to choose a semester-based contract and find alternative housing for the summer.
“Back in the 90s, you could get a fall/winter contract and a spring/summer contract, and the apartment complex had to manage the extra space. Now, the burden of selling the contract falls on the students rather than the landlords,” he said.
Students often figure out their own way of dealing with the homeless period, whether that means moving home, living with local family or reaching out to their local Church leaders.
Rex said so far he has not had to help anyone relocate, even though he offers assistance to his ward.