The Basic Needs Program at Cal Poly Pomona made a significant impact during the fall semester, serving over 1,000 students with emergency grants, housing, meal assistance, CalFresh application assistance, and more.
The Division of Student Affairs program aided by contributions from campus partners made several changes during the fall semester to better serve students, including the creation of two student assistant positions tasked with outreach and day-to-day operation.
Emergency grants were the most-used service in fall 2021, with 722 students receiving aid. Typically, the emergency grant is capped at $500 per eligible student. In fall 2021, however, several students received between $1,000 to $2,000 with assistance from an Associated Students Inc. (ASI) grant. Over 80 percent of grants awarded were designated for housing and living expenses such as utilities.
"With the funding we received from ASI, we were able to award over 1,900 emergency grants totaling over $2.4 million," said Judy Juarez Crawford, care services coordinator of the Basic Need Program. "These funds came at a critical time for students, who were being impacted by the pandemic with loss of employment and increased expenses. We are very grateful for the continued support from ASI."
CalFresh Outreach, a service that assists students with determining their eligibility, application submission, interview preparation, recertification, and more, was utilized by 272 students. CalFresh representatives were also present at the on-campus Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week resource fair in November.
In collaboration with Dining Services, meal assistance gained the convenience of being electronically added to a student's Bronco ID, making access to meals even easier. As dining services returned to typical operation during the semester, the service saw an uptick in requests.
"When everything in Dining Services was shut down, we weren't using the meal assistance program as frequently," said Juarez. "Now that we've seen an increase over the past year, we're very excited that meal points can now easily be accessed using an existing Bronco ID card."
In addition, the program assisted Financial Aid with reviewing HEERF III emergency grant applications and connected with students who needed additional assistance. The Basic Needs Program also launched a student-led mailbox service for students experiencing homelessness in need of a physical mailing address, and trained over 130 faculty and staff members through the Basic Needs Ally program, which has two upcoming sessions available on February 17 and February 18.
Looking to expand on this impact, a committed effort to providing essential resources remains a top priority for the Division of Student Affairs. Through the basic needs survey distributed to all students in November, over 1,900 respondents provided key feedback and insight into how basic needs resources could be expanded at Cal Poly Pomona.
"We are committed to continuously providing students with the essential resources needed to not only survive, but to also thrive," said Dr. Jonathan Grady, associate vice president and dean of students.
Building on this feedback, the university is working to create the first CARE Center; a one-stop hub for students to receive holistic services and support including meal assistance, emergency grants, housing support, guided meditation and relaxation stations, nap pods, wellbeing coaching, transportation assistance, hygiene products, wellbeing classes, and more.
Students, staff, and faculty will be offered the opportunity to provide further feedback to help shape the vision for the hub.
"Through ongoing advocacy, engagement and outreach, student-ready, asset-driven, and equity-minded approaches will continue to be employed," added Grady. "CPP recognizes that student well-being and basic needs are essential to student success and continues to be committed to reducing barriers, increasing access and student support services, and cultivating a holistic and systematic campus-wide basic needs strategy." For more information about the Basic Needs Program, or to make a donation that directly impacts students in need, visit the program website.