We're researchers, scholars, policy advisors & storytellers who envision a world where basic needs insecurity isn't a barrier to pursuing + completing college.
Philadelphia, PA
Joined April 2014
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Students cannot thrive in college when they cannot afford to eat.
Our new brief with @TrellisResearch and @SwipeHunger connects student hunger to college affordability and student success—and charts a shared path forward.
An available resource isn’t always an accessible one.
Information gaps, stigma, and other barriers keep too many students disconnected from food support. Our brief examines how colleges can make help known, trusted, and easier to use.
Campus food programs are essential. Connect them with financial aid, public benefits, housing, and other basic needs supports, and their impact grows.
Student hunger is not inevitable. Our response must match the scale of the problem.
Read & share: nccsen.org/food
From recommendations to action! 🎉
MiLEAP’s $5M federal Basic Needs Grant will help Michigan students access basic needs support and stay on track to graduate. We’ve been proud partners to help advance their critical work.
michigan.gov/mileap/press-re…
More Listening to students, more grounding decisions in research, more turning recommendations into action.
Explore our partnership with Michigan and read “Barriers to Bridges,” the task force report helping guide their next phase of work:
hope.temple.edu/projects/mic…
At the end of September, the federal government awarded nearly $100 million that Congress had allocated for institutions of higher education and their state partners to support their basic needs.
hope.temple.edu/newsroom/hop…
We applaud the winners of these competitive federal grants, but recognize how much more investment is needed to address the crisis of 3 in 5 students experiencing basic needs insecurity.
The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs retweeted
THIS WEEK: Join us Oct. 8 for a webinar on the student basic needs crisis and proven strategies to help students stay on track. Hear from:
➡️ Angélica Gutiérrez, @TICAS_org
➡️ Bryce McKibben, @hope4college
➡️ Alexis Newman, @SBNC_USA
Register here: bit.ly/AcrossTheFinishLine
We agree. Students deserve easier access to overcome barriers in applying for food assistance; 67% of eligible students don't receive SNAP. Text messages are a common-sense step for state agencies.
NEW: Student Defense is calling on all states to use text messaging to expand access to SNAP benefits.
Too often, a missed interview, deadline, or mailed notice can mean eligible people lose out on food assistance.
For college students, the stakes are especially high: nationally, 67% of eligible students don’t receive SNAP benefits.
It’s hard to focus on completing your degree when you don’t know where your next meal is coming from.
Read the full brief: defendstudents.org/all/stude…
When we support students’ basic needs, we're also supporting their academic outcomes, keeping them enrolled, and supporting their wellbeing as humans. But doing so requires care and creativity. So, how can we better do this?
That's the question we asked at our most recent webinar, "Basic Needs Are Health Needs: The Role of Campus Health & Wellbeing Practitioners." We brought together partners from various institution types to discuss their campus's approach.
Watch: youtube.com/watch?v=lBvD8sAs…
A big thank you to our partners at @dallascollegetx, @Columbia & @SetonHill for joining us for this deeply informative session.
Grateful to @ECMCFoundation for bringing so many partners together in MN for thoughtful conversations about what it takes to strengthen student basic needs security—and how we keep moving from ideas to policy change and implementation.
Many of those big ideas for state level change can be found in our "North Stars"—points of orientation + actionable policy opportunities to create student basic needs security.
When we all reach for the same goal, we can make big change.
Read here: hope.temple.edu/north-stars
The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs retweeted
I met Jazmyn at San Bernardino Valley College, and her story about not being able to use SNAP benefits on campus inspired me to write legislation to address that issue.
So - I hope you will share your thoughts and ideas too.
Hearing your experience helps me to craft a meaningful policy response.
🚨NEW REPORT:
An unexpected $500 expense shouldn’t derail a college education.
But for millions of students, a car or medical bill, or rent increase can do exactly that.
@MarkHuelsman looks at how states can build emergency aid into a real student safety net. 🧵
We know what happens when emergency aid is funded at scale.
Federal funding made emergency grants widely available during the pandemic. Students used funding to pay for basics. Since HEERF ended, the share of students reporting they received emergency aid has drastically fallen.
Some states have stepped up. Our report examines programs in CA, MI, MN, NC, TN, VA + WA—and what policymakers can learn from them.
The goal: emergency aid that is accessible, flexible, integrated into student supports + built to last.
🔗: hope.temple.edu/stopgap-safe…
