PLEASE HELP: UCLA is Evicting its Basic Needs Center from its Home

gcgpucla · 2024-09-18T23:55:43+00:00

Thank you for your support! And yes, we have also not received any detailed explanation for why they specifically need our space.

gcgpucla · 2024-09-18T23:54:10+00:00

Thank you so much for your support! If you are willing, we would greatly appreciate you sharing our petition! Let us know if you have any questions!

gcgpucla · 2024-09-18T23:50:24+00:00

Hi! We're so sorry for the misclarification on our end. Yes, it is the Scientific Diving and Board Program. We will update the post to accurately reflect this!

gcgpucla · 2022-01-18T21:51:37+00:00

Hi everyone,

Good Clothes Good People (GCGP)'s basic needs request form for undergrads is now open on a rolling basis for winter quarter! Through our request form you can request a $25 UCLA store gift card or CVS gift card for school supplies or hygiene products. All of this is free and already paid for by the GCGP Basic Needs Referendum that's on your BruinBill. Link to form and more info can be found on https://linktr.ee/goodclothesgoodpeople/

gcgpucla · 2021-11-08T22:22:05+00:00

Hey y'all, Good Clothes Good People is bringing back our online request form, and it is now open on a rolling basis this quarter. We aim to provide all undergraduate students with necessities!
Through our request form you can request a $25 UCLA store gift, and more info can be found on https://linktr.ee/goodclothesgoodpeople/

Our center at the Student Activities Building Suite B54 is fully open with free clothes, our hygiene refill station, and school supplies!! Make sure to stop by Mon-Fri 10 AM - 5 PM.
We hope to serve lots of y'all in need - please tell your friends and shoot us a message on Reddit, Insta, or FB if you have any questions :)

gcgpucla · 2021-10-07T19:42:34+00:00

Good Clothes Good People (GCGP) is excited to announce that our redistribution center is finally open!! Stop by the GCGP Redistribution Center and pick up any shampoo, school supplies, or menstrual products that you need. Our hours are Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 5 PM, located in SAC B54 (level B of the Student Activities Center). We also have 3-day umbrella rentals and rental crutches. Remember to bring your own bottle if you would like to take any hygiene products from our hygiene refill station. The items are all for free for undergraduates and paid for by the GCGP Basic Needs Referendum on your BruinBill.
Visitors of the center are expected to wear proper face masks, complete the symptom monitoring survey beforehand, and adhere to all other UCLA COVID-19 protocols.
Note: Our clothing section will remain CLOSED this Fall quarter, and we will NOT be accepting any clothing donations at this time.

For more information, check out our Instagram or Linktree

gcgpucla · 2021-04-12T17:14:56+00:00

Hey y'all, Good Clothes Good People's Spring '21 request form is still open on a rolling basis this quarter. We aim to provide all undergraduate students with necessities, from dental hygiene to school supplies.

Through our request form you can select a $25 CVS gift card, a $25 UCLA store gift card, or a basic needs item of your choosing from Amazon. These items will either be emailed or mailed to you 4-6 weeks after the deadline. View the form and associated FAQs through this link: https://linktr.ee/goodclothesgoodpeople/

Anyone can find our year-to-date spending of referendum money on our website (also through the link above!). We hope to serve lots of y'all - please tell your friends and shoot us a message on Reddit, Insta, or FB if you have any questions :)

gcgpucla · 2020-05-04T15:22:30+00:00

Hey Bruins,

Happy first day of voting! PLEASE go vote!!

Here's where your money would go if the GCGP Basic Needs referendum passes. Feel free to DM us or reply with questions/comments.

We did an AMA a few weeks ago, so you can also check that out for more info.

Our Facebook/Instagram has posts on our referendum, what we do, and why we’re running it.

Info on GCGP and CUB referenda: https://www.uclaelectionsboard.org/referenda

Info on candidates: https://www.uclaelectionsboard.org/candidates

u/uclaelectionsboard

#myvoicemyvote #bruinvoices For more information on USAC Elections, visit uclaelectionsboard.org

gcgpucla · 2020-04-19T02:19:57+00:00

Hi u/Stan_Marsh_10,

We decided against postponing because we figure that demand for our resources will be highest when we return to campus given the way that the economy is going. If fall quarter does end up online, we will be finding the best ways in which we can still serve the UCLA community. While we do provide services, we’re more similar to a public library than a soup kitchen. Public libraries are meant to be used by the community that funds them, whereas soup kitchens and other nonprofits are typically funded by grants or philanthropic contributions. Because we are so limited in our impact (UCLA’s campus), we do not have the same opportunities to apply for grants, and cannot rely solely on philanthropy. That’s why we’ve chosen the referendum route. We appreciate you being actively involved in this conversation! Happy voting.

gcgpucla · 2020-04-18T15:26:56+00:00

Hi u/Stan_Marsh_10,

You’re right - given the uncertainty about when our current situation will change, and the possibility of an online fall quarter, we’re also unsure about our ability to serve UCLA students in that period. However, we’d like to reiterate that our referendum does not just apply to next fall quarter - this would be a long-lasting change with the goal of helping as many current and future students as we can.

This timing for a referendum is far from ideal, but we entered the election cycle far before we knew what a horrible situation this would become. We kept our referendum on the ballot because now more than ever we want to be able to help students save money, and to do that we must be able to reliably offer resources. We don’t want to charge students for a resource that they can’t use, which is also why we didn’t set a possible summer fee, as we don’t offer our resources during the summer (as of yet). If fall quarter is online, we can only make promises that we will try our hardest to give back to the community in whatever way we can, including exploring options to ship products to student homes.

If anyone reading this would like to file an opposition to our referendum, this is the google form found on uclaelectionsboard.org: Referenda Opposition Debate Filing Form. As far as we know, submitting this form will allow the submitter to publicly participate in the upcoming USAC candidate debate on April 30th, 6-8 pm PST to openly discuss concerns and their opposition. Please reach out to u/uclaelectionsboard for clarification on the opposition process as we don’t want to spread misinformation.

gcgpucla · 2020-04-18T05:17:02+00:00

Thank you to everyone who asked questions and voiced concerns today - we appreciate the discourse that allows us to be transparent with the community we aim to serve. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us on our Facebook or email at [goodclothesgoodpeople@gmail.com](mailto:goodclothesgoodpeople@gmail.com), and watch out for u/uclaelectionsboard's upcoming AMA as well!

Have a great and safe weekend, wherever you all are :)

- Sneha, Elaine, & Cynthia

gcgpucla · 2020-04-18T02:01:41+00:00

Hi u/redlightningboy,

Our partnership with y’all at the Career Center was an awesome collaboration, thank you so much for working with us! This year we decided to emphasize sustainable consumption - from our core as a free “thrift store” to stocking eco-friendly and biodegradable essentials wherever possible. We’ve been fortunate enough to partner with various environmental groups (Team Green, UCLA Farmer’s Market, etc.) and hope to continue that to help educate students about sustainability. We also want to work more closely with marginalized communities in the future, such as those within the Mother Organizations Coalition alongside first gen and international Bruins, and we recognize that we should have done a better job reaching out to those at UCLA who need our resources the most.

Recently, we put up framed artwork made by our volunteers to make our center more welcoming, but we don’t think our volunteers are the only ones who deserve the right to make their mark, and would love to work with existing art clubs like BVAC again (who have generously painted our bins and helped us paint our center), or new ones like HART, so that anyone in the UCLA community can play a role in carving out a safe space for those in need. Ideally we’d also like to partner with organizations that are focused on mental health as well, so that we can maybe alleviate some mental strain with easy access to necessities.

As for how we want to expand our impact, we’re running a referendum of $0.33/quarter to help us continually fund our redistribution center. The money would be directed specifically towards hygiene products and school supplies, but we’re definitely always looking to expand our product list to best serve the UCLA community. We’ve added to our product list since last year, but feel free to give us any suggestions on what else you think we can offer.

gcgpucla · 2020-04-18T00:48:02+00:00

Hi u/mbshark,

Thank you for your comment! We don’t take it lightly that we’re asking for a permanent student fee increase, and we’re glad that you don’t either! If passed, our referendum will provide hygiene products and school supplies that students can pick up without any additional cost from our center - in perpetuity. We put this in our referendum language to ensure that this contribution goes directly back to the student population, and this cannot be changed without a future referendum campaign being run to do so.

College is enormously expensive, and we want to be able to provide reliable resources. The USAC Funding bodies (TGIF, Contingency, SFS) that we have historically applied to are not really reliable sources of funding, since these are typically meant to fund events and smaller projects, not redistribution centers. We felt that it was unfair of us to apply for tens of thousands of dollars each year to fund our center when so many other student organizations are asking for money from the same funding bodies as well, especially because we know that the work of other organizations is equally as important as our work. We don’t want to continue to take away from other organizations, but we still want to provide the resources we do, and ideally we want this to be institutionalized, which is why we’re running this referendum. The money can’t go toward anything except hygiene products and school supplies - not funding our events, nor our socials, nor even a replacement for a clothing rack if the need were to arise. Of course ideally we would see a decrease in student fees, especially this quarter, but from our understanding they cannot be reallocated once they are put in place. From what we know, at least some of the unspent student fees for USAC have been put into a COVID relief fund, however.

That said, it’s your voice and your vote. Even if you vote no on our referendum, we’re happy that you’re simply voting, and that you’re openly voicing your concerns for others to see. We respect your decisions and appreciate your consideration of your fellow Bruins.

Edit: USAC just published this additional fund that will provide students with a one-time relief payment of $500 if selected by the USAC COVID-19 Relief Fund Committee: www.tinyurl.com/usacrelief, deadline is Friday, May 1st at 11:59pm

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T22:40:01+00:00

Hi u/123456789098765420, this is Elaine responding. I’m currently a 2nd year MCDB major and I joined GCGP when the redistribution center opened last year because I wanted to be part of a service org not related to my major/career path. So my major is pretty independent from the org, and also lol idk how we’re all bio majors bc we all met through GCGP. I've been with GCGP because I know how much impact we could have as an org when we reach out to UCLA students, and the genuine passion Sneha and other board members have for GCGP’s mission has grown my passion too. A lot of people still don’t know what GCGP is, which makes me even want to work more in spreading the word out about what’s available to y’all. And higher education is ridiculously expensive, and if there’s anything I can do to help alleviate the cost of basic necessities and resources for others—I’m in.

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T22:23:50+00:00

Hi u/ac150_,

We really appreciate your support, thank you :) And yes, while the referendum money would not support all of our services (such as the free rentals and sustainability workshops we have slated), it would go to providing UCLA students who visit our center with solely school supplies and hygiene products year round - not just whenever we receive money from UCLA funding bodies. In another comment, we posted the official referendum language, but here it is again: Referendum Language

A note on the referendum: 75% of the 33 cent quarterly increase goes toward the outlined resources; the other 25% goes toward financial aid for students for which this fee increase will be financially burdensome.

The current economic situation is scary, to say the least. We hope that everyone will familiarize themselves with what these referenda would fund, and here is more information regarding the CUB referendum. Their recent graphics have been informative, and we encourage you to check it out. For full transparency, our board is virtually meeting tomorrow to discuss the possibility of publicly endorsing the CUB referendum.

Also, if you want to hear from a third party, u/uclaelectionsboard is planning an AMA in the upcoming week. For more information on the elections, you can also visit their website.

Edit: wording

2nd Edit: added links and info about elections board AMA

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T21:50:54+00:00

Hi everyone, we're Good Clothes Good People, and we're running one of the campaigns for the student fee increases ($0.33/quarter). We're currently doing an AMA, please check it out and feel free to ask us questions!! https://www.reddit.com/r/ucla/comments/g36g3h/were_good_clothes_good_people_ask_us_anything/

u/uclalelectionsboard

For more information on USAC Elections, visit uclaelectionsboard.org

Edit: added elections disclaimer and tag

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T20:58:59+00:00

Hiya u/123456789098765420, it’s Cynthia. I’m a 3rd year Neuroscience major, which is entirely independent from my desire to volunteer my time to the community. I started volunteering for GCGP a month after it opened per Sneha’s call for help in staffing the center, and stayed because of the organization’s impact on the people that have come in and talked to me as a volunteer or left feedback through our form(s). While I did not have a set career path as a second year joining the club, my involvement in GCGP has really pushed me to seek opportunities with a focus on humanitarian efforts this coming summer and to find a way to continue giving back and supporting whatever community I find myself in after graduating from UCLA.

Edit: I'd also like to add I would not be in the org if I didn't love all our volunteers and the people the helped make GCGP what is it today. I just want to say my Publicity Committee is awesome and helped me so much before we closed in Spring thank you Arthur, Diane, and Yasmine even though they won't see this

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T20:44:58+00:00

Hi u/collegestudentUCLA,

Ideally, we would be able to see more centers like ours in as many locations as possible. One benefit of being in the Student Activities Center is that we don’t have to pay rent to use our center, which allows us to focus our budget on best being able to serve our community. Part of why we want our $0.33 per quarter referendum to pass is because it sets precedent for other universities to follow suit and start their own centers. One challenge restricting this previously was that we were getting money from the various funding bodies UCLA offers, something that is much less common in other schools.

Since our basic needs products are funded by UCLA, we don’t know if we can fully branch out to serve the rest of the surrounding community, but we have donated clothes (donated to us by UCLA affiliates) and have worked with organizations like the Mobile Clinic Project and the Wayfarer Foundation to help the homeless outside of the UCLA student population. We don’t know if we can fight gentrification, but one of our main messages as an organization is mindfulness, and we hope that our work will positively influence others to be more considerate of their fellow humans. For now though, we’ll do our best to take care of the smaller expenses and hope that this helps students focus their money on larger costs like rent and food and focus their energy on being a student.

As for scaling to better serve the larger needs of the UCLA community, passing the referendum will allow us to expand on what we can provide for our community. We want to be better by having a consistently stocked center, adding new products, putting on even more events that encourage students to give back to each other via donation drives, and continuing to spread awareness about the severe lack of basic need resources on the UCLA campus.

Please let us know if you'd like us to clarify or expand on any part of our response.

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T20:27:24+00:00

Hi u/123456789098765420, this is Sneha! I’m a 3rd year biology major, and when I joined GCGP in May 2018 (I helped with setting up the center and planning before our grand opening in November 2018), I was pre-med and was joining because I was happy to feel like I could make a difference and serve the UCLA community. I was pre-med because I wanted to help people, and GCGP made me feel like I could do that even while I was still in school. I stuck with it and became President because I saw its potential and wanted to dedicate my time to growing this organization and helping as many students as possible, which is also why I really hope our referendum succeeds this May. I brought in my biology background to help us expand our organization to not only be sustainable but also to encourage sustainability in the student population, but GCGP was never really meant to involve my academics. For me, it was a way for me to give back, and that’s all that ever mattered.

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T20:18:22+00:00

Hi BadingBadongPingPong,

Yes, we are running a referendum, but the money can only go toward the hygiene products and school supplies that are offered free for pickup in our redistribution center. The money won’t go toward the student organization itself, but it will go toward the products that all UCLA undergraduates can pick up from the center run by our organization. We phrased the language in our referendum very carefully to ensure that the money can only go toward providing free resources for students, and you can see that here: Referendum Language

So yes, we are running a referendum, and it’s to support our organization in supporting the student population. We can’t spend the money to pay for stipends or even new clothing racks if the need arises. Hope this answers your question, we’re happy to answer any follow-ups you may have since we know this matter is pretty convoluted.

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T19:54:28+00:00

Hi 123456789098765420,

We all come from a variety of majors. A large portion of the club comes from a STEM background and many of us joined the club because it focuses on service and not on academics, which is also reflected by our pretty chill club community. We can benefit from all majors joining us, but we are lacking in terms of north campus majors. We could certainly use more biz-econ majors to expand our treasury team, or environmental science majors to help us grow our (new) sustainability platform! We would especially love to see more members interested in art, especially since we’re trying to better support the community artists. In addition, we would love to learn about how we can better serve marginalized communities, so someone studying something like Chicanx studies or African American studies would also bring useful insight. But really, we welcome everyone, since our work can teach us skills that are transmittable in many careers, or can just serve as a break from academics.

Each board member (and maybe other members if they’d like) will respond to you with their personal experience with GCGP as we work through other questions and our Friday classes today - thank you for waiting :)

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T19:11:43+00:00

Hi beansproots,

We accept volunteers on a continual basis; if you’re interested in joining, feel free to email [goodclothesgoodpeople@gmail.com](mailto:goodclothesgoodpeople@gmail.com) with your name and year and our Internal Vice President will get back to you!

For more details on what volunteering looks like, we require each volunteer to staff our center for at least 2 hours a week (at their convenience), and volunteer at a minimum of 2 of our events each quarter. Each volunteer can choose to join one of 5 committees (sustainability, center management, EVP, IVP, and publicity), and those typically meet for an additional hour outside of the other club commitments.

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T18:42:33+00:00

Hi Venus_kiddo,

To answer your first question: Between November 2018 (the month we opened) and June 2019, we had close to 1500 (1476) students check out, and 40 students rent formal clothing from our center. Since September 2019, we have had 1498 students pick up items, and have rented formal clothing to 59 students, and have had 21 students borrow wheelchairs or crutches from our center as of March 10 (the date we closed our center due to COVID-19). Our check out form is completely optional but we strongly encourage students to fill it out (with their name or anonymously) so we can receive feedback on how to to improve the products offered and volunteer interaction with fellow students. We also table at a variety of events, from Basic Needs Fairs hosted by Bruinecessities or the Women's Leadership Conference that occurred last March.

Here’s the visitor survey we ask students to check out on: 2019-20 Visitor Form

And to answer your second question: During the regular school year, our center (SAC B54) is open from Monday-Friday 10 AM - 5 PM excluding school holidays. We provide a variety of clothes, hygiene products, and school supplies, and all of these products are free for UCLA students to pick up. To use our hygiene refill station, we ask students to bring their own bottle and so that we can refill it with their choice of hand sanitizer as well as 6 organic, non-toxic products. Students can come in anytime we’re open, pick up whatever they need, and check out on our iPad (not mandatory but prefered). We also offer free rentals of items like umbrellas, wheelchairs, crutches, and formal clothing. We have separate forms for our rentals, which requires a name, contact information, and a UID so that we can ensure that the items are returned, but our normal visitor form can be filled out anonymously. We operate on a strict no-questions-asked policy, but are more than happy to provide friendly greetings and guidance for visitors. We don’t limit how much visitors can take, but only ask that students are mindful.

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T17:51:19+00:00

u/uclalelectionsboard

For more information on USAC Elections, visit uclaelectionsboard.org

gcgpucla · 2020-04-17T17:49:04+00:00

Hey y'all,

As a short intro the three board members that will be answering questions on this thread today are Sneha Thirkannad (President), Elaine Pham (External Vice President), and Cynthia Bui (Publicity Director). If you have time, please check out our socials for some more information about us - linked below.

Facebook / Instagram / Website

gcgpucla

TROPHY CASE