A Place to Call Home

Ask Malia Apelu (’20) where she’s from and she will tell you, “Southern California.” That’s as specific as it gets because the answer, she says, is tricky.

“I grew up being moved around a lot,” Apelu explains. “My siblings and I were passed along to different family members throughout Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside Counties so ‘throughout SoCal’ is kind of what I always claim.”

Before finishing twelfth grade, Apelu attended 12 schools, including four high schools, due to frequently moving between foster care and relatives' homes. Always a strong student, she was accepted by San Diego State University despite never visiting the campus.

SDSU was Apelu's top choice primarily because of the reputation of its Guardian Scholars program, which supports former foster youth, wards of the court, legally guarded or unaccompanied homeless students transitioning to, through and beyond the university.

The Biggest Challenge

The five years Apelu lived on SDSU’s campus provided the longest period of stability she had ever known. “The housing program made all the difference in my experience at SDSU,” she says. 

Now Apelu works in SDSU’s Division of Student Affairs and Campus Diversity, where she is the Guardian Scholars program coordinator. Since 2007, the program has supported over 500 students – including the current cohort of 142 in San Diego and 6 in Imperial Valley – and 83% of them have graduated or are still enrolled. 

In July 2026, however, the federal government will end a $600,000 housing grant match that is vital to the program. In the past 10 years, the grant has helped 55% of Guardian Scholars to receive a housing subsidy.

Among the students she works with, Apelu says housing instability and “just knowing where you’re going to lay your head at night” can be a source of trauma. 

“Are you going to have to work four jobs? That’s the biggest challenge for many students. Stability is what it ultimately comes down to,” she says

A Better Life

Providing stability is what Pam Smith does. As executive director of the Alex Smith Foundation, she recently helped facilitate a $50,000 donation to address housing needs for the Guardian Scholars, which she and her family helped SDSU create.

Pam Smith’s son is Alex Smith, the record-setting Helix High football phenom who gained national fame as quarterback at the University of Utah. He was the first overall pick by the San Francisco 49ers in the 2005 NFL draft, playing for 16 years in the league.

Through his community involvement and his mother’s work in San Diego County Health and Human Services, Alex understood the needs of foster youth. His own insight and desire to make a difference led to the creation of the Alex Smith Foundation.

Pam says that, as a college football standout, Alex saw he had every advantage. Unlike students who age out of foster care, “my support didn’t walk away from me at 18,” she remembers him saying.

“As athletes, they have tutors, they have help, there's housing—whatever you need, they take care of you,” Pam points out.  “Alex said, ‘Couldn't we at least do that for these kids who need that kind of help?’ He established his foundation with a specific mission of helping and supporting kids as they transition out of the foster system, and hopefully into a better life.”

A Complete Package

After providing initial financial and organizational support to help launch Guardian Scholars, the Alex Smith Foundation has continued its funding through the years. Alex Smith personally pays the foundation’s administrative costs so the programs it supports receive 100% of donors’ contributions.

The Smiths are pleased with the success of Guardian Scholars and view it as a model program for other universities. “We see what goes on around the country and San Diego State's program is the best,” Pam asserts. “They really have put together a complete package.”

The most important element to that package, according to the Smiths, is housing. Pam Smith calls it the most difficult and expensive thing to deal with.

“I don't think you can have a successful program without having the housing piece in place,” she says. “It’s the foundation for all of it.”

Stepping Up

While many donors have already supported housing for Guardian Scholars, additional funding is required due to the recent federal government cut. SDSU Associate Chief Diversity Officer for Outreach and Success Mary Taylor says ongoing support by the Alex Smith Foundation has been essential to the success of Guardian Scholars, but additional community participation is now needed. 

“The Smith family’s involvement has been important for this program on so many levels,” Taylor stresses. “Since the beginning they have understood what SDSU strives to achieve with Guardian Scholars and they have assisted our students every step of the way—whether that has been through collaboration, scholarships, or housing support. We are very grateful for that support.”

Pam Smith believes the foundation’s investment in SDSU Guardian Scholars is sound. She points to graduation rates – which are virtually the same for the scholars as for the overall SDSU student body – as proof.

“From the get-go San Diego State has been stellar both with the mission and the vision,” Pam Smith exclaims. “They saw the need, and they stepped up on everything.”

The ongoing Guardian Scholars collaboration between SDSU and the Alex Smith Foundation brings great satisfaction to the Smiths and to those at the university who work with them. The program is an important achievement that all involved may point to with pride.

“We've all built this bridge for a successful life for these kids and that bridge is education,” Pam observes. “You just see them all the time taking a step forward, then they turn around and help the person behind them take a step.”

To support housing for Guardian Scholars, please contact SDSU Executive Director of Development for Student Affairs & Campus Diversity Jen Stanley at [email protected].