UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State’s Student Care and Advocacy Office is expanding with the goal of better addressing students’ basic needs.
Student Care and Advocacy is a central location that coordinates efforts with campus partners to assist students who encounter challenges or concerns in achieving success at Penn State. The office’s mission is purposely kept broad to address a variety of student concerns, but it commonly focuses on issues related to health and wellness, finances and academics.
“Student Care and Advocacy is a dedicated space where students can come to get help navigating what can seem like a really big institution during a difficult time they weren’t expecting,” said Student Care and Advocacy Director Anna Barone.
When students visit Student Care and Advocacy, Barone said the case managers focus on listening and understanding what the student is struggling with so they can connect them with the best help possible.
“It sounds simple, but a lot of times, what I do is ask them ‘What hurts? What’s hurting?’” Barone said.
To address the increasing challenges students face in maintaining their basic needs, such as food and housing, Student Care and Advocacy created three new positions: two basic needs-focused case managers and an associate director.
“For so long, our office has been kind of a patching-holes-in-the-wall, Band-Aid type of office, which is definitely important and not enough,” Barone said, citing the importance of the expansion. “The system itself, if it’s kind of off-kilter, it’s going to wobble again even if you correct it one day.”
Student Care and Advocacy sent out a Food and Housing Needs survey to identify the prevalence of need across each Penn State campus, said Leanne Lenz, who has taken over the associate director position.
“I see our office as being a great place to start so that you don’t necessarily have to know which area you want to address first or what questions to ask,” Lenz said. “We can kind of help guide people through that.”
The survey closed on Oct. 21, and the office expects to have the results returned to them in the spring semester. Student Care and Advocacy case managers at each campus are connecting with students whose survey results indicate a critical need so resources and support can be provided in a timely manner.
Partnering with the office, a group called Students United Against Poverty formed this semester to raise awareness of student needs, Student Care and Advocacy’s resources and the impacts of poverty. One of the group’s current projects is the creation of a student-run basic needs hub. Intended to expand upon the services of the Lion’s Pantry, this hub — which is still in the works — will connect students with items like warm clothing, toiletries and cleaning supplies.
Those interested in getting involved with Students United Against Poverty can find contact information on the group’s Org Central page.
The University also created a Basic Needs Security Initiatives Collaborative Council to tie together all of the basic needs resources across campus. The council holds monthly meetings, and each partaking organization documents the initiatives they are working on through a shared database.
Students seeking basic needs support can visit the Student Care and Advocacy office in 222 Boucke Building between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, schedule an appointment by calling the office at 814-863-2020, or fill out a form online.