It has been more than a year since the College’s inaugural Student Care Center (SCC) opened at ACC Highland to serve as a hub for support. The Center will be renamed the H-E-B Student Care Center to recognize a generous gift from the company. 

“The Student Care Center has been a rousing success in the first year of operation. The ACC community has embraced the SCC as evidenced by the amount of donations and volunteers supporting ACC students through the SCC,” says Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Accessibility & Social Support Resources Steve Christopher. “We look forward to building out SCCs at strategic district locations over the next few years to support more students.”

As of October 2024, 4,307 households (unduplicated), all affiliated with ACC, visited the SCC and received 203,441 pounds of groceries. The SCC also has a Food 2 Go section where students, faculty, and staff can pick up snacks and prepared meals at no charge.

The SCC sources some of the groceries it offers from the Central Texas Food Bank. Then, depending on what food is available or unavailable, SCC staff also purchases additional food options and personal care items to add to the supply. The center has recently created purchasing relationships with food wholesalers that will dramatically reduce costs.

In addition to a well-stocked grocery-style food mart, students can visit the SCC to connect with resources such as housing, transportation, family support, sexual and reproductive health services and programs, and more through a Student Advocate.

To be more accessible to students, the SCC has made it easier to get support from an advocate. Instead of making an appointment, students can now meet with a Student Advocate for assistance accessing community resources and/or the student emergency fund from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday on a first-come, first-service basis. 

To support the needs of those who visit the center, the SCC has grown its staff over the year to 2 coordinators, 8 part-time student hourly employees, plus full-time manager, Vanessa Barrientos.

“Over the past year serving the students at Austin Community College, I’ve come to realize the impact we’re making. We understand our role in supporting student persistence at ACC, and while it may be a small part of their journey, it brings us joy to see students return each semester for snacks or groceries to refuel. We’ve also learned that creating a warm, welcoming, self-service environment helps instill confidence in the students who use our services,” says Barrientos.

The Student Care Center is open at Highland Campus Monday through Friday. Find hours of operation and more information on the Student Care Center web page.