Jason Wilkinson
At some point in everyone’s life, they need help, and there shouldn’t be any shame in having to ask for it. At CCBC, students in need can reach out to College and Community Outreach Services for help with a number of issues to receive the assistance they need.
“We provide outreach services by connecting students to resources in the community,” said Jaleesa Thomas, a Success Navigator who has worked in College and Community Outreach Services for three years. They can help students secure referrals for a lot of wide-ranging issues such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), bus passes, counseling services, eviction prevention, food pantries, and much more.
“I think our office is benefitting students because they are able to stay enrolled, but also that we help the Baltimore area in general, helping families be successful,” said College and Community Outreach Services Director Dr. Heather Griner, who has been with the department since its inception eight years ago.
According to a 2023 study by the National Postsecondary Student Aid Study (NPSAS), “Overall, 23% of undergraduates, and 12% of graduate students, are experiencing food insecurity. This means more than 4 million students are food insecure. And eight percent of undergraduate and 5% of graduate students are experiencing homelessness, translating to more than 1.5 million students.”
Food insecurity is an issue that has a large effect on student graduation rates. According to a study published in Public Health Nutrition, only 44% of food-insecure students finished their undergraduate degrees compared to 68% of students who were food-secure. For a food-insecure student, receiving a referral to a food pantry or SNAP can be the thing that helps keep them enrolled and on their way to completing their degree.
“There is no typical appointment,” said Dr. Griner. “We meet students where they are at. Each appointment is different. Students can be referred by their instructor, staff, self-referral or a walk-in.”
Transportation is another issue that poses a lot of challenges to students. According to the College Board, 87% of first-year students live off-campus and will spend an average of $1,840 on transportation alone. For many students, this is a struggle. Lack of reliable transportation can not only lead to tardiness, but a plethora of additional stressors as well that can affect a student’s focus. This is why a bus pass could prove to be so essential.
“Essentially, we try to help students be successful in their classes by helping with non-academic needs,” said Dr. Griner.
When a student is focused on issues in their personal lives such as food-insecurity, transportation, and bills, it can deeply affect their mental health and it is nearly impossible to not carry that into the classroom. According to a 2022 study by Boston University, mental health issues among students increased steadily between 2013 and 2021.
In a survey conducted by Intelligent.com, they found that over 70% of students struggled with their mental health and over 40% of students considered dropping out of school because of their mental health. Of all of the students surveyed that were dealing with mental health issues, 18% said their struggles were new, while 82% said that they experienced mental health issues before college, with the majority of students who experienced mental health issues prior to college saying that they were struggling more after starting college.
For students experiencing mental health issues, College and Community Outreach Services can assist them with receiving counseling. “Students can have virtual or in person spots where we discuss their needs and connect them to the appropriate resources,” said Thomas.
If you or a student you know are struggling with anything, please feel free to reach out to a Success Navigator. You can find more information at the link below:
This article mentions many reliable and valuable resources CCBC provides to students in need, the resource I found most interesting is the food pantry which helps students struggling with food insecurity or who might need a meal throughout the day. They provided sources that showed how lack of food can impact education and general performance. Therefore, my main takeaway from the article was CCBC’s food pantry services.
I’m a big believer in reaching out if you need help with your mental health because it can affect you physically
One major takeaway I have is the high statistics of food insecure students dropping out. I knew that students had their reasons to drop out but I never realized how many cases are linked to food insecurity. I really admire the success navigators efforts to help students and now I know who to contact in case I need to reach them at some point.
One key takeaway that I learned from this article is that students who are experiencing hardships at home tend to struggle managing their education. Having struggles like the lack of transportation can cause students to feel unconfident in their ability to graduate. This can most certainly decline someone’s mental health because it’s too much to worry about. It’s good for CCBC to have services like this because it helps students to not feel trapped in their own struggles. Students at CCBC have the ability to talk to someone when they’re in need and change their circumstances for the better.
Previously, I was not aware of how many services CCBC can provide to students in need. I may not need this services at the moment, but it helps to know that in the future, if I ever need assistance, it will be available to me.
My main takeaway is the resources available to us if we’re ever in need. This Article showed me how much CCBC cares about their students and will do things to help us succeed so we’re not left to struggle on our own.
I like this blog post a lot! A lot of outside influences can affect how a person learns, whether it be transportation or otherwise so it’s great that the outreach service does everything they can to support students with whatever they could need.