Food & Housing Insecurity

BACKGROUND

Student success is a complex topic - it takes the entire SCC village to support students. In our large, complex organization, it can be difficult to know where to send students when they ask for help or express needs that go beyond the classroom. The following resource provides information that will allow you to direct students to appropriate supports and interventions.

During spring quarter 2021, the TLC and I-HOPE (Integrated Holistic Operationalized Personal Experience) Welty Grant Teamco-sponsored the "21 Days to Holistic Student Supports Challenge." It was designed to increase faculty and staff awareness of the holistic student support available to our students by providing information about on-campus student resources that support the student experience.

I-HOPE Welty Grant Team:

Chantel Black, SCC Director of Admissions and Registration

Glen Cosby, SCC Vice President of Student Services

Rebecca Goss, SCC Counselor and Department Chair

Michelle Grover, SCC Applied Education Faculty

Sarah Stiffler, SCC Assistant Dean of Adult Education

Key information from the challenge is collected and reformatted here as a resource on a variety of topics and situations. In addition to more general information, review the FAQs for more specific information.



FOOD & HOUSING INSECURITY

Knowing how many students struggle with food and housing will help you connect students with resources and help normalize the experiences for students. In the fall of 2019, SCC students were asked to answer an anonymous survey developed by The Hope Center’s #RealCollege Survey. Here are the results:  

  • 45% of respondents experienced food insecurity in the prior 30 days 
  • 54% of respondents experienced housing insecurity in the previous year 
  • 19% of respondents experienced homelessness in the previous year 
  • 64% of SCC respondents experienced at least one of these forms of basic needs insecurity in the past year 

SCC's Institutional Researcher, Christy Selway, put these results in context: “Compared to other community colleges across the nation, SCC respondents reported higher rates of food insecurity (45% vs. 42%), housing insecurity (54% vs. 50%) and homelessness (19% vs. 17%).” 

These facts are significant. Not only do they speak to the pervasiveness of food and housing struggles for community college students nationally, but they remind us that factors outside the classroom impact a student's ability to learn. Read the full SCC report here. Links to an external site. 

If students share with you that they are struggling with food and housing, here are some practical things that you can do:

  • Normalize this struggle. During the year surveyed, about 2/3 of our students experienced food and housing insecurity-- including homelessness. This is an experience shared by many of our students. Talk about this openly, and ensure that students who are struggling don't feel shame and don't feel that they are alone. Remind students that we all have a hierarchy of needs, and make sure that they know that having their basic needs met makes learning possible.  
  • Connect students to resources. You don't need to know all the community resources available to get students help. Use the Early Alert Links to an external site. referral system, and guide students to the Canvas resource titled "SCC Campus Resources." Frequently, it is not enough to simply let students know that resources like the Food Pantry exist, so find ways to make a deeper connection (campus tours, former student testimonials, email introductions to staff, walking students over, class assignments and/or reflections on resources, etc.). 
  • Add statements to your syllabus about those resources. The Holistic Student Supports Subgroup for the Guided Pathways Steering Committee developed a sample statement that all faculty can include:
    • We learn as whole people. To learn effectively you must have basic security: a roof over your head, a safe place to sleep, enough food to eat. If you’re having trouble with any of those things, please talk with me. The faculty and staff on campus are here to help.

If you would like to learn more, visit The Hope Center Links to an external site. website, Links to an external site. or follow the #RealCollege feed on Twitter Links to an external site. for the ongoing conversation about supporting college students. Read the article "Community Colleges Struggle with Students’ Food Needs as Pandemic Increases Demand Links to an external site." from Ed Source, "Struggling Through a Pandemic Links to an external site." from Community College Daily, or listen to this podcast with Portland Community College’s Mark Mitsui about student food and housing insecurity: Community College Voice Podcast, "Talking to Portland Community College’s Mark Mitsui Links to an external site.. I highly recommend listening to this podcast episode: "Paying the Price Links to an external site." with Sara Goldrick-Rab from Teaching in Higher Ed (May 2019).

 

FAQ: "I'm working with a student, and they disclosed to me that they were recently kicked out of their apartment and do not have stable housing. What offices on campus can possibly support them?"

 

FAQ: "Where is the on-campus food pantry, and who is eligible to use it?"

 

FAQ: "I've heard we now have a social work intern on campus to provide support to students. How would I connect a student to this resource?"

  • SCC has an EWU social work intern on campus. Our current intern (spring quarter 2021) is Precious Kollie. She is located in Building 6 near the Food Pantry. She is available to help students who are experiencing food or housing insecurity, or who may be in need of general support. She’s under the supervision of SCC Counselor Charlene Bruley. Faculty and staff can help students connect with Precious (and any future social work interns) by phone at 509-533-7091 or by emailing Charlene at Charlene.Bruley@scc.spokane.edu. Referrals to Early Alert are also shared with our social work intern as well.

 

**Please remember that if you're ever unsure of where to turn for support for a struggling student, the Early Alert team on campus is also available to help. The Early Alert team is made up of staff from student services departments across the campus. Faculty can submit online Early Alert Referrals Links to an external site. for student concerns ranging from class participation/attendance, assignment completion, mental health services, food and/or housing insecurity, and more. Once you submit a referral, a member of the team will reach out to the student within about 24 hours to check in on them and provide options for interventions or services. The team encourages you to "refer early and support often!"