02-04-2024 EDU - Flipbook - Page 2
Goucher College hosts several campus events to address mental health including Happiness Hunt.
Addressing physical and mental health challenges
From food pantries to counseling, colleges step up
By Gregory J. Alexander, Contributing Writer
W
hether it’s a child in kindergarten or a
graduate-level college student working
on a thesis, if you are hungry, it’s hard
to concentrate, not to mention your
physical health suffers. Food insecurity is a growing
problem on college campuses across the country,
which is the main reason University of Maryland,
Baltimore County launched Retriever Essentials,
a multi-faceted initiative to address the problem.
Ariel Barbosa, Retriever Essentials program
coordinator, who is also a student in UMBC’s master’s in community leadership program, says the
cornerstone of the program is The Essential Space,
where students can obtain non-perishable food,
select perishable foods, toiletries, and baby items,
all 100% free and available anonymously. “When
we opened The Essential Space, it allowed us to
expand the number of students and staff that we
could reach. We started recognizing that so many
students were struggling … some were homeless,
and some were pregnant and could not afford food
or other essentials,” says Barbosa of the impetus
for opening the free grocery store. She adds that
about 85% of those served by The Essential Space
are graduate-level international students, many of
whom live in apartments with several roommates.
“Many of the international students we serve
give back by volunteering here,” she says.
In addition to the free grocery store, UMBC
also has a free farmer’s market, a meal recovery
program, a campus garden, and a meal card Savea-Swipe program. “We partner with dining services
where students can donate unused meals to be
transferred to the campus dining services card of a
student in need. We also work with students, faculty and staff to help identify unused food designated
for campus events,” Barbosa says. She adds that the
campus garden had its first harvest this year to help
provide fresh produce to students.
Barbosa says that for those looking to help,
financial donations are preferred through https://
retrieveressentials.umbc.edu/financial-contributions/.
Laura Burke, student wellness specialist in
Harford Community College’s office of student life,
explains that Harford’s College Resource Center
tackles many issues students may be facing, including food insecurity, mental health and the need
for clothes through the center’s clothing swap
program. Burke notes that the school partners
with community organizations to also provide free
and accessible services such as onsite counseling, a
sexual health clinic, and access to Narcan, which
can assist to reverse an opioid overdose.
“For the second year in a row, we also got a
grant from Hunger-Free Campus Grant Program
– this year it was a $15,000 grant – to provide meal
vouchers on campus and grocery store gift cards.
With the rising cost of food, these programs are
more important than ever,” says Burke.
“We have such an amazing campus community
here at Harford where everyone wants to help. For
example, in October, we had a food and clothing
drive. One employee started a food drive challenge
versus another department, and that department
in turn, challenged another one. It’s amazing,” she
says.
Burke says that her office also taps into the
resources available via the Harford Community
College Foundation’s emergency assistance fund
(https://www.harford.edu/about/foundation/index.
php), which provides emergency financial assistance to currently enrolled Harford Community
College students who are facing a short-term financial emergency. “Students may be struggling to pay
an electric bill, have a car repair necessary to get to
campus, facing an eviction due to unpaid rent, or
simply need internet access. Any of these issues can
result in a student having to drop out of school, so
we help to make sure that they don’t,” Burke says.
“As a community college, our students are older
and many are balancing school and raising children, so they have additional challenges. Also, our
international students are sometimes taken aback
by the cost of living in this country versus their
home country, so they need help, too.”
Burke says that her office also works with
campus events to suggest in lieu of buying a ticket
C
Pujita Mohanty, UMBC graduate student leader of the gardening project.
to an event, attendees can donate food for students
in need.
Looking ahead, Burke hopes to apply for additional grants to provide food lockers at various
points on campus where students can scan a QR
code and open the locker to obtain a bag of food.
She also hopes to bring together all of the services
of the Resource Center into one space on campus.
Goucher College has always placed a premium
on mental health – the college holds annual events
like Fresh Check Day and I Will Listen Week – but
thanks to a new grant from the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and
Mental Health Services Administration, the college
is able to expand psychoeducational programming
and outreach to its students.
Lauren Greenberg, director of the student
counseling center at Goucher College, says that
the grant will allow the college to create new projects such as a medical transportation program for
students needing to access therapy sessions, and a
research library.
Greenberg says that her department reaches
students through a session during orientation,
serving coffee and donuts during welcome week
and having counselors offer hot chocolate during
finals. “We want to be a fabric of the Goucher
community to break down the stigma for students
to seek out help when they need it. We aim to
create a new way to talk about mental health,”
says Greenberg. “Our research shows that today’s
college students embrace therapy more so than
previous ones, and many students say they wish
their friends would utilize more of the services
we have available at Goucher.” She adds that her
office aims to create events that are positive and
less heavy to allow students to talk about mental
health more easily.
Greenberg says that the Covid pandemic made
mental health services even more important, as students were dealing with the loss of loved ones, isolation and missing out on moments such as being
on campus during their first semester of college.
Greenberg adds that the grant may also provide
funding to train students to help them counsel their
fellow students, as well as professional development
for staff on suicide prevention and outreach to marginalized populations.
UMBC students at the Essential Space, a campus free grocery store.
Harford Community College's Resource Center addresses food insecurity.
Photo by Marlayna Demond
