Monday Message Guidance: Student Support Services and Resources
This coming Wednesday, individuals and families who receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) funds will lose a pandemic-era boost in payments. For the NOVA students who rely on these benefits–and many others experiencing the impacts of inflation, like rising grocery bills–our wrap-around services and resources are vital to their success.
Later today, the communications team will publish a special issue of the Nighthawk News to highlight resources available to all Nighthawks. Those resources include:
- TimelyCare, a free telehealth program that provides 24/7 virtual mental health care
- NOVA’s Office of Wellness and Mental Health
- You@NOVA, a new source of tips, guidance and wellness resources for students
NOVA faculty, staff and students can find more information about many of these resources–including hot meals grants and CCAMPIS grants–on the Financial Stability and Advocacy Centers’ Resources webpage.
Today, we also would like to share a story from the 2022 President’s Report about our Nighthawk Nests and the College’s partnership with the Capital Area Food Bank, so you can share it with any students in need.
Nighthawk Nests Help Address Student Food Insecurity
Food insecurity is a barrier to success that students face in increasing numbers. According to The Hope Center’s #RealCollege survey, 39 percent of students at two-year colleges experience food insecurity, and one-third reported having skipped or cut down on the size of their meals.
To help those in need, NOVA provides free food and personal care products, including diapers and other infant supplies, through the Nighthawk Nest, a food and personal care pantry with locations on each of our six campuses.
The college has also teamed up with the Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) to address food insecurity through new, innovative joint programming that includes stocking the Nighthawk Nests with a variety of new items supplied by CAFB and CAFB-funded grants that enable students to obtain prepared meals on campus with their NOVACards.
With funding from M&T Bank and help from DoorDash, NOVA and CAFB also home-deliver pre-boxed groceries and fresh produce to the homes of students enrolled in CCAMPIS, a federal program supporting parenting students and their families. These impactful programs reduce the time and money students must spend on groceries, alleviating one major stressor, and allowing them to focus on their academic success and their mental and physical well-being.
In the words of a student worker with the Nighthawk Nest: “Food insecurity is not something uncommon, but a lot of students are shy and are unaware of the resources that NOVA has to offer. Seeing that students are able to access our pantry, and how grateful they are for the resource, helps me realize how important it is to have this kind of support in place to help them tackle other financial instability issues.”
Submitted by:
Dawn Selak, Director of Communications, DSelak@nvcc.edu
Stuart Bowen, Associate Director of Student Communications, SBowen@nvcc.edu