Brian HoweyRebecca Alturk would have graduated from UC Berkeley in May. As she crossed the stage to retrieve her diploma, cheered on by her mother and 6-year-old son, she might have reflected on her childhood living in motel rooms between evictions, or her rocky start at Cal, trying to balance raising an infant with a full course-load.
While she posed for pictures with her family, boasting two degrees—one for Conservation and Resource Studies, another for American Studies—she might have breathed easy knowing that having a degree from a prestigious university meant she may never have to worry about homelessness again. Then the coronavirus came to town.
“I can’t just graduate this summer and enter a recession, I wouldn’t have housing,” Alturk said in a phone interview. “I don’t have anywhere to go. My whole family relies on me for housing.”
Read the full story here.
