For Anthony Phillip White II, being in community college while homeless was exhausting, embarrassing — and eventually unrealistic.
Just out of a four-year stint in the Marines, White moved to Oceanside in 2014 to attend MiraCosta College. A single father, he planned to share a home with friends and his then-5-year-old son Trey as he sought to become the first in his family to earn a college degree.
But the house didn’t work out, and his part-time job in a camera store didn’t pay enough for a place of his own. Trey had to stay with his mother in Nebraska, and White moved into his Chevy Silverado, working during the day, taking classes in the evening and searching out safe places to park at night. After eight months in the truck, with help from a veterans group, he got an apartment and got his son back. But trying to parent and pay bills while still making it to class was too hard.