Meet Basic Needs

It takes a lot of courage for a parent who is working and raising a family to decide to enroll in college for a better life. The vast majority of ACC students are working and attending college. Approximately 60 percent say they worry about paying for college, and 30 percent are parents. When we help our students meet their basic needs (food, housing, child care, transportation, and mental health), they can better focus on learning.

The following strategies have proven to help college students reach their academic and career goals, which means more trained workers entering the local workforce and making family sustaining wages. That’s good for everyone.

Key Activities

• Build a system that integrates all basic and essential needs supports at scale with defined roles, responsibilities, and accountability focused on:
  • Child care
  • Food security,
  • Housing security,
  • Transportation,
  • Emergency aid,
  • Mental & physical health
• Design a data solution to assess the impact of current supports and predict future intervention needs focused on the same areas.

Current Work Stage

Phase 1 team- Design work launched September 6, 2024.

Design Team Members

• Amber Sarker, Department Chair, Student Development (Co-Chair)
• Cara Crowley, Special Advisor to the Chancellor for Basic Needs Systems (Co-Chair)
• Christie Curtis, Director, Basic Needs Outreach, Committee Liaison
• Deborah Benavidez, Faculty, Office Administration and Technology
• Lola Cowling Watters, Faculty, Head Librarian
• Jim Heath, Faculty, Physics
• Janie Wang, Faculty, Mental Health Counselor
• Kelly Brown, Regional Manager, Student Life
• Rachel Barrera, Instructional Designer
• Felicia Bell, Student Advocate
• Angelica Cancino de Sandoval, Director, Special Support & Grants
• Jaqual Diggs, Student Accessibility Services Advocate
• Matthew Figg, Director, Institutional Analytics
• Ayeesha Green, Student Money Management Office Coordinator
• Amber Huffman, Student Advocate
• Paula McDermott, Director, Social Support Resource Development
• Avery Arocha-Guerra, Student Financial Aid Assistant
• January Dowling, student
• Tianna Allen, student
• Carey Cranor, student
• Hailey Storie, student

Documents

Meet Basic Needs Repository