February 6, 2024 • 29 mins
Sr. Associate Vice President of Student Life and Dean of Students, Dr. Matthew Smith, sits down with Candice Varnado Bangura, the director of CSUDH's Toro Care, for a candid discussion about basic needs and why issues like housing and food insecurity have become so critical for student success today.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:15):
Welcome to Beyond the Rhetoric. I'm your host, Dr. Matthew Smith,
senior associate vice president of student life and dean of students at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
A 2018 study conducted by the CSU showed that nearly 42% of the system's students reported some level of food insecurity,
and nearly 11% had experienced homelessness.
(00:37):
A similar study conducted here at the issue Dominguez Hills in 2019 found that 65% of our
students experienced food insecurity and 15% had experienced homelessness since the pandemic.
These percentages have increased even further and beyond food and housing,
students face other factors that potentially hinder their success in the classroom,
(00:58):
including a lack of access to such things as health care, mental health support and transportation.
For example, a recent survey published by the Healthy Minds Matter Network found that more than
60% of college students met the criteria for at least one mental health problem,
which is nearly 50% increase from 2013.
And these challenges are often more acute of underrepresented and underserved students.
(01:23):
In this episode, we're joined by Candace Varnado Bangura, who is the director of CSU, DHS Toro Care Program.
Toro Care coordinates a network of support to CSU students who are experiencing complex hardships such as basic needs,
challenges and unforeseen circumstances.
They support students by providing individualized assistance that removes barriers impacting academic, emotional or social progress.
(01:59):
So can you talk to us a little bit about Toro Care? What is it?
What does that department consist of and and what type of services you will provide?
Sure. So Toro Care is a newly formulated department as Amigas Hills.
Previously there was a team of multi-disciplinary folks around campus, and now we're at our old apartment.
(02:19):
But we host the one on one meetings with students just to talk through some issues that they might be having non clinically so time management,
boundary issues, impulse control.
So we have about three case managers and I'm going to refer to them as care coordinators because we don't refer to our citizens cases.
So we have three care coordinators. We also host basic needs services through zero care.
(02:44):
So we have short term housing, which is 14 to 30 days at a hotel or on campus.
We also have tile fresh assistance for students who are interested in the federally funded program.
And then we also have our Teddy's pantry, which is our food pantry on campus that has shelf stable items, non-perishables,
perishables and then hygiene items on our campus as well, along with other things like meals,
(03:08):
quite cards and all the things that basic needs to offer.
You mentioned a one on one meeting. Can you. Yeah. What is what is a one on one meeting?
Sure. So the non-clinical case management that we do with Enteral care is just a meeting with student.
Some of our students have an aversion to counseling in a clinical sense,
and so our meetings with the case manager is just really talking through what they might not want to talk about
(03:33):
with a clinician and then hopefully giving them a little bit of a warm reception and a handoff over to counseling.
And you also mentioned basic needs. And you can sum up some of the services that are provided in their basic needs is kind of this umbrella term.
Can you talk a little bit about how you all define basic needs and what are the all of
(03:56):
the programs and services that you all are offering to to address those basic needs?
I think basic needs is a little bit of a hot button item, a hot topic right now.
I would like to just talk about personally what basic needs means to me, and then I'll go to a professional sense of basic needs.
And so for me, basic needs is a human right.
So health care is a basic mental health care as well as a basic need, as well as food, housing and financial resources are all basic needs.
(04:24):
And so personally, I think that informs my professional understanding of what basic needs is on a college campus.
And so on a college campus, particularly the media fields and the other few basic needs,
and usually is food, housing, transportation and sometimes clothing.
And that's just helping students with the essentials that they might need to be
(04:46):
able to focus on their classwork and their co-curricular experiences on campus.
And so at Dominguez Hills, we have supplemental food options, which is the food pantry as well as meal assistance program.
And then we also have an opportunity for a student to sign up for coverage.
So those are our three options for food supplements and then for housing supplements.
(05:10):
We're trying to diversify our portfolio as it relates to housing,
but right now we're doing short term housing, which is a state in our university housing facilities.
And then also for students who might be student parents or my family,
we offer students an opportunity to stay at a hotel nearby, funded oral care for up to 14 days.
(05:31):
Sometimes it lasts a little bit longer,
but some folks need a little bit of time before they move into their forever home or their forever apartment, a more permanent stay.
So we try to give them help with transitional housing as well.
Sounds like you all are doing a lot to talk about why that work is important and within the scope of what we're doing here at Dominguez Hills.
(05:55):
So our hope is that a lot of the students that we're meeting with,
they are talking about I don't know if I could be a student here or I don't know if I could continue on with classes.
I'm thinking about dropping out because I don't have food and I don't have housing and sometimes receiving transportation.
So we're looking to beef up our transportation opportunities as well.
But our hope is that students find that getting a college education, specifically at Dominguez Hills,
(06:20):
is the help that some of their counterparts that are 20 years old and working three jobs don't have an opportunity to have someone
like Candace or Morgan and Pearl care to help them through the various nuances of what it means to be a young adult right now.
But when you think about a student who is 20 years old and a non student that's 20 years old,
(06:41):
they're having the same issues as they relate to food and housing insecurity.
And so I think the price of education is having advocates and having practitioners
who can work on your behalf in a way that another 20 year old who is not as.
Don't really have. That's really interesting. And I don't think I've heard someone kind of juxtapose being and the benefits of being
(07:04):
enrolled in college and being a student in higher ed and those who aren't in that way.
We always talk about like those long term things in terms of professional outcomes and learning and development,
but just being able to have those advocates that you have access to as a result of being enrolled is a really, really critical piece.
(07:25):
Basic needs is a right now thing, right? Like I'm thinking about not four years from now, I'm thinking about not even two years from now.
I'm thinking about right now I don't have the needs to live.
And so just the post is someone who isn't on a college campus.
It's really cool to have advocates. And then I think about being the undergraduate and I remember couch surfing and not
(07:48):
even knowing that me being on a homegirl couch for two weeks before my lease started,
it was me being housing insecure and it was like a thing in my college town.
Like for the first, I want to say three weeks of August, everyone was like staying at somebodys house until Lisa started over.
And now that I think about that, I'm like, Wow, we were making the best out of a difficult situation,
(08:14):
but not even knowing that it was a difficult situation and just trying to make it.
Absolutely. Because I remember the same thing. I think, you know,
it was a long running kind of joke that you cannot serve a dorm room and even now is different than it was then in terms of cost of living.
We talk a lot about culture of care on our campus, but the other piece of that is, is thriving students.
(08:38):
And I think one of the things you really touched on right now is that so many of our students are often just surviving,
thinking about the here and now and and the work that you all are doing are really trying to position them to thrive.
And you've touched on this a little bit, and I'm wondering if you can just expand a little bit more.
There's a large debate in higher ed and surrounding higher ed about whether
institutions should be in the business of providing basically services to students.
(09:02):
Is that more social services or is it mission drift or higher ed institutions?
What are your thoughts on that? A lot of our missions as it relates to higher education is all about transformation.
And so I don't know how we can transform students without meeting them as cliché
as they might sound where they are and if where they are is at a lack of food,
(09:24):
housing and other essential needs, then we should be doing that work.
It also for me is the equity piece that I don't think we talk a lot about with diversity, equity and inclusion.
How can we bring students to a place where they are at a baseline of no longer needing food resources or no longer needing housing resources?
(09:44):
How are we being equitable in that sense, specifically for people who have all their needs met,
like me and you or folks who are professors on campus in our tenure?
How can we teach them and look at them in the classroom, in their.
It's hard for them to focus, is hard for them to really know if they're going to show up or not,
(10:05):
because the varying things that are happening around them are not allowing them to thrive.
So, sure, we are running the risk of being another's social services,
but I would rather risk that the not I would rather it becomes a free for all, I guess, than not being able to do the work.
(10:25):
In your short time here, a relatively short time here, what impact have you seen?
Is there like a situation or a student situation that's debt that stands out to you,
that really represents the significance of the work that you are doing that?
Can you be able to share a little bit about,
I think a little bit about what makes me excited about coming to oral care is that there is a daily success story,
(10:47):
and I don't know that everyone has that type of return on investment the way that I do, but one that reaches my mind more vividly.
The student was in between housing situation.
So hearing anything helplessness as well as food insecurity as well as was a reengaged student so previously was at Dominguez
(11:09):
Hills and left and now was looking to come back and really complete what was only supposed to be one year worth of work.
And so when I spoke with this dated the first time, the student was very agitated.
So they had been bounced around from this place to that place and this place.
So I started the meeting with What can I do to help you?
(11:31):
I think the thing I was a bit taken aback by the question because sometimes I think we're asking like, what do you need?
What do you need? What do you need? But like, what can I specifically do to help you?
And so they didn't say it in this way, but like not being able to know the language for financial aid,
My aid is not working because I went into default and how can I turn around the default?
(11:52):
And so not even knowing the term default right is a barrier.
And also navigating financial aid and getting this duty on their books or their schedule to be able to talk through one on one what can happen.
So when you're calling these offices, sometimes it's very hard to be able to explain what you're going through and
what type of intervention is you might need if you don't know the language.
(12:15):
And that really helps me to understand how I can help students help themselves,
actually explaining to them a bit of language and asking what you need without having to bear yourself.
So I'm learning that our students really feel like they have to say the word to get the most help.
And I'm really trying to work them through. Like, you don't have to bear your entire soul to get help.
(12:37):
I'm going to help you whether you tell me the worst or not, you know?
But I think that one case helped me to understand that even our reengaged students really need a bit of help with language.
You know, you were talking a little bit earlier about how you define basic needs.
Our former ACI president once mentioned in a conversation with cabinet and some campus leaders that
(13:02):
information is a basic need for students having access to knowing what resources are available.
Can you talk a little bit about how you all are trying to reach out and communicate to students?
Let them know what resources are here and how can other professional staff, faculty, folks on campus help?
And amplifying that message. Folks can reach us by one or two oral care updates that flash to care.
(13:27):
And then also we have reprinted Olive Resource, our one sheet so that it makes it.
So what we're doing now and then I think because basic needs is a hot button topic and it is I think really a passion area for a lot of people.
I would love for folks to kind of think about what it might mean to work in a basic need center like tural care,
(13:51):
and then kind of think about how we can work together to offer support to students without duplicating resources.
So I don't know that necessarily. Every center needs a basic needs or a food pantry.
If when there is a food pantry on campus that folks can walk students to, or if there's a student who, like I haven't seen any help,
(14:14):
direct them to the oral care center so that we can get them the gamut of resources that we have available,
whether it be county resources, state resources, or federal resources.
All of that can be tapped into if we just know that that a student is in need.
Another part of that is an understanding of basic needs in a societal way in our society.
(14:35):
Food resources is an issue in our society.
Housing resources is an issue, and some things are societal, some things are institutional,
and some things are the things that we could do in our department.
And so a federally funded program, SNAP, which is a phrase I can help students find enough or camp fresh, but I can't change catfish eligibility.
(14:58):
I literally only have what I can do with my hands, and I'm going to keep my hands open to do the work.
But I really would like for folks to work in tandem with me.
Not to admit they're not, but that's just my picture.
This idea of how I feel like people can really work to support basic needs by not just talking, but like doing.
(15:18):
One of the benefits of that is that if a student is food insecure, says they're hungry,
haven't eaten that you are looking at that as more than just food insecurity.
So can you can you revisit that again? Because I think some of us soon comes and says, I'm hungry.
We're going to go buy that student lunch. And that is a good to eat. Feel good about that.
But how what is the philosophy for Toro Care on that situation and how do you all approach that?
(15:42):
What are some of the things you all are looking for when a student approaches you all with a specific need?
One specifically that comes to my mind now where they are like experiencing not enough
availability to food throughout their time in housing because they live on campus,
that the availability for food is limited. And so we understand that that is something that Aramark and other partners are working to support.
(16:06):
So in the meantime, turtle care is like looking to see if we can supplement by paying for student meals.
And then that's something that we can do for other students,
like being able to sustain is another thing that we're looking to do when we can help a student with one meal,
to help with one meal, to help 20 students, one one meal to make it equitable.
(16:27):
And so they're thinking about, okay, we can help this one student with the semester's worth of meals within a year for a lot more student.
So you can help a lot more with that as a basic need, right?
But as we're going through, that process is also work to support them with calories.
Let's also show them a tour of the pantry.
Let's also think about transportation to local grocers.
(16:50):
So when we go to the month, we'll buy a bus and take students to Aldi or Walmart or one of the.
The neighboring growth is in crisis. So we're thinking about how we can get folks to these places because it is a bit of a trek the world and maybe
the bus isn't really a practical way to get there because they go the opposite way to an actual grocery store.
(17:12):
So we're trying to think through ways to really help students in the moment,
but also a lasting change where that one time no, is not really cracking their day in their food insecurity.
But a federally funded program like ours could definitely, you know, put a dent in it.
And then how do I actually get to the grocery store on top of the terminal care, specifically basic needs, before it became real care.
(17:36):
And the team has been spending a lot of money on food in ways that other campuses
have been getting donations and not just donations from faculty and staff,
because, again, I think something that institutional and some things are societal.
And so I and myself, we're going to do, they'll have been really working to beef up our donations in the meantime, working on food bank relationships.
(18:01):
So we're like getting hygiene relationships for free, right?
So that's in the words our food pantry is going to look a lot different in the coming months because of our location changes,
but also because of the type of food that we're going to have in there that's going to be healthy and sustaining.
Not just a small thing of cereal, but like, how about a box of cereal?
(18:23):
How about rice? How about ramen, like things that are actually at sustenance?
But then diversifying our produce as well. So weekly deliveries of produce as well.
So we're looking to like have more tangible things in the food pantry in the coming months.
That's great. And, you know, really highlighting there how a lot of times if a student comes with an issue in terms of food,
(18:47):
that there's also this need maybe around other needs, like around transportation, maybe it's hygiene, maybe it's mental health.
Often we don't see the complexity of some of the challenges that students are really wrestling with in terms of their basic needs.
You talked a little bit about the money that you all have spent trying to address food insecurity.
One area that you all have invested heavily in is the emergency grants.
(19:09):
Can you talk a little bit about that service? What that is why that's important.
So our formerly known as emergency grant is now called the Squirrel Care Grant,
and we're working to support students who are having an extenuating circumstance or something that is unforeseen that we would like to help them with.
So sometimes it's car repairs or sometimes a student is like, I can't pay my rent this month and pay off my balance for school.
(19:36):
And so we help them with their rent payment in that regard.
The care grant is up to $1,000 every academic year, so they can apply for all of 2023 and also follow 2024.
And sometimes it's a bit more than $1,000 if we see that the need for the student is 1200 or sometimes it's even more.
(19:57):
The means is a really community oriented place. So I really love that about that.
And so we will move in ebb and flow for the need of the student.
So it's really good to have folks in various parts of the university working to support students with the grant.
And so you all are doing a lot of great work with students.
(20:18):
How do you measure success and how should we kind of think about measuring success for Fort Toro care on our campus?
That is a great question.
I personally would measure their success lateral care by reaching not necessarily more students because I do want to reach that,
but because a bit deeper than that.
(20:40):
I think that success for me what look like moving towards everyone, feeling like they can coordinate on behalf of the student.
They know where to go when there is a student in need or crisis,
or even a student that's harm to themselves or others like they have an actual understanding of the plan for students.
And I think that would be a success for me as far as basically, I think we'll always be serving students who have a need for essential services.
(21:08):
I think a success would be that we pitch in a bit more like there are opportunities for folks to come out and unpack pallets.
We had 16 pallets last week.
Maybe there are credits for graduate students to work with our data for, help us with knowing how we are impacting students.
I think the faculty members, it can really go as large and as broad as I can think of.
(21:33):
I can idea all day. And so do you believe that the work you all are doing impacts retention and learning and development, and if so, how?
Absolutely. I think I talked a little bit about like if a thing is not eating,
they are not doing if they do whatever it is on the syllabi or with whatever the faculty member is saying, that's like, I think.
(21:56):
A bit of it sometimes is I don't know how to write a paper and I've been depressed.
If I couldn't figure out how to write this APA style paper.
Also, my partner has been hitting me.
So all of these things have been happening to this one student in a semester.
And sometimes we don't know that all of those things are happening because there's not really enough time to sit down and talk through.
(22:21):
Well, that's why we have floral care to say, okay, now tell me, why are you depressed?
Oh, okay. So you're depressed because you're having a hard time writing papers.
Are you depressed about anything else? Oh, no, it's just the papers. Okay.
It sounds like we need to get you some help. Let's walk you over to the writing center.
Let's talk to you after you come back from the writing city. Did you get everything that you needed?
(22:41):
Okay. What else are you having an issue with? I can't afford the parking space.
Okay. What's happening? What do you need to get help with the parking bay?
All right, That's it literally begins to unfold and unfold.
So tomorrow here is really there to help people talk through what they might need.
Is there anything that, as you look forward towards the future that you're really excited about for Toro Care that's
(23:03):
on the horizon that you all may be working on or that you just hope to see materialized?
We're waiting on contracts to be signed and all that,
but I'm looking forward to being able to again diversify the types of food that is in the food pantry right now is a bit snacky,
is like, Oh, I can go get a snack, but I really look forward to there being full meals available.
(23:25):
I look forward to the food pantry, opening our forever home opening in the next few months with construction delays is understandable.
I'm really looking forward to students to come and feel like your your neighborhood Trader Joe's or your neighborhood bar and just come walk around.
Maybe you want to try a new fruit. Maybe you want to try a new vegetable.
(23:48):
Pao chicken available or vegan options available.
Like I really can't wait to see our students in the space really feeling like
they can have whatever they want to have because they deserve to have it.
It also sounds like there's going to be some great opportunities for others to get involved,
whether it's getting their hands dirty, like you mentioned,
or whether it's faculty, graduate students helping with maybe some of the research and understanding the impact that you all are having over there.
(24:15):
So so that's really exciting.
It sounds like you have some staff that are just doing some amazing work and Toro Care and that which also encompasses basic needs.
But one thing we know about working and doing that type of work is you're giving a lot of yourself.
It's a lot of and there's a lot of emotional aspects that are tied into it.
(24:35):
So how do we as a campus rally around and support you and your team as you will engage in this work?
We talk about the ways we can support students. We can donate, we can get our hands dirty, we can do research, we can do all of those things.
But how do we support those who are doing the work to make sure that you all don't burn out or feel isolated?
(24:56):
I would ask folks if they are passionate about basic needs to really like band together
with this to be a community member supportive in a ways that might be even just,
Hey, just checking on you. I heard about this opportunity when I was at Smorgasbord.
Maybe this might be a great person to link up with. I think that that goes a long way.
(25:17):
Also, assuming positive intent, I think sometimes folks are like really on fire for basic need that they forget that we're we're really we're doing
the work of basic needs and it might not go as quickly as they've seen about other campuses or in other nonprofits.
But if you have your intention is to help and you have an understanding of basic needs,
(25:39):
I think it would be good to be able to tell us what you think we don't already know.
And if we do know, identify, okay, yeah, we can we can partner in that way,
but definitely coconspirators is the vibe that I think we could really use.
I did want to highlight working hard because it has been doing this work for five or so
(25:59):
years and really championing students in a way that I think really exceptional work.
And so I just want to highlight that too, that she's been working in,
that she's been doing this work for quite some time and has had coconspirators on campus worked with her,
and I think we should just continue with it and that's awesome.
Yeah, Morgan is amazing and has been doing amazing work for a while on that front.
(26:23):
So. So thank you. Thank you for that. In terms of feedback and being coconspirators,
are there structured ways that you will prefer for folks to try to engage with you as their committees feedback forms,
or do you just want them to kind of reach out, send the emails? What's the best way for folks to kind of reach out?
We do have a basic needs committee that meets at least once a month.
(26:44):
So like a work group to work through varying topics and trends that are happening.
And basically we also have a triple care impact review.
So you can tell us how our customer service or. How we have impacted our communication with you that's available.
I'm from around away, like I'm from the South side of Chicago.
Like, you can totally send me an email, a text message, a message.
(27:07):
I just found out that has checked so you can reach me.
I don't know. I will post it now.
I think the feedback is low, so sometimes it's there to help us to grow.
Sometimes we need correction. And so I'm open to be corrected.
I'm open to be back. That's slightly uncomfortable because I think that's the only way that we're going to make it better.
(27:32):
That muscle is not going to grow without feedback, and so I'm open to all forms of feedback.
Is there anything that I haven't asked you about or that you want to share a little bit more about there?
Any burning thoughts or comments?
I just wanted to leave with just talking a little bit about how inspired I am to work in the fields and work with a community of folks.
(27:54):
And I talk about this often, but when I first became a member of the nation, I had one student who was having an issue,
and so within a day I was on the the line with like an associate dean and a dean and
two faculty members and a community member who was trying to support the student.
(28:15):
And that really just showed me that folks are willing to mobilize for one student.
And that shows you the heart of this community. And I appreciate that.
I appreciate so wholeheartedly being a part of this community.
I love that. And this is a very special and special place.
And that's one of the benefits of working here, is being able to be a part of that community.
(28:39):
It is an inspiring piece that kind of really helps us continue with the work day in and day out.
And I think that's why it's also important, like in terms of that feedback,
like being open to that and love the way you conceptualize that because you have so many people on
this campus who truly care about students and care about this and that you all are engaging in,
and they have some amazing thoughts and ideas and and being open to feedback is an
(29:01):
additional way to cultivate community and allow people to feel like they have a stake.
So thank you for for that. Appreciate your time and for you being here with us.
And thank you for the work that you're doing and just all the ways that you've advanced oral care and basic needs in your short time here.
Looking forward to everything that is to come. Thank you for having me. Great thoughts.
(29:25):
Beyond the rhetoric is a production of the Division of Student Affairs at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
Welcome to Beyond the Rhetoric. I'm your host, Dr. Matthew Smith,
senior associate vice president of student life and dean of students at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
A 2018 study conducted by the CSU showed that nearly 42% of the system's students reported some level of food insecurity,
and nearly 11% had experienced homelessness.
(00:37):
A similar study conducted here at the issue Dominguez Hills in 2019 found that 65% of our
students experienced food insecurity and 15% had experienced homelessness since the pandemic.
These percentages have increased even further and beyond food and housing,
students face other factors that potentially hinder their success in the classroom,
(00:58):
including a lack of access to such things as health care, mental health support and transportation.
For example, a recent survey published by the Healthy Minds Matter Network found that more than
60% of college students met the criteria for at least one mental health problem,
which is nearly 50% increase from 2013.
And these challenges are often more acute of underrepresented and underserved students.
(01:23):
In this episode, we're joined by Candace Varnado Bangura, who is the director of CSU, DHS Toro Care Program.
Toro Care coordinates a network of support to CSU students who are experiencing complex hardships such as basic needs,
challenges and unforeseen circumstances.
They support students by providing individualized assistance that removes barriers impacting academic, emotional or social progress.
(01:59):
So can you talk to us a little bit about Toro Care? What is it?
What does that department consist of and and what type of services you will provide?
Sure. So Toro Care is a newly formulated department as Amigas Hills.
Previously there was a team of multi-disciplinary folks around campus, and now we're at our old apartment.
(02:19):
But we host the one on one meetings with students just to talk through some issues that they might be having non clinically so time management,
boundary issues, impulse control.
So we have about three case managers and I'm going to refer to them as care coordinators because we don't refer to our citizens cases.
So we have three care coordinators. We also host basic needs services through zero care.
(02:44):
So we have short term housing, which is 14 to 30 days at a hotel or on campus.
We also have tile fresh assistance for students who are interested in the federally funded program.
And then we also have our Teddy's pantry, which is our food pantry on campus that has shelf stable items, non-perishables,
perishables and then hygiene items on our campus as well, along with other things like meals,
(03:08):
quite cards and all the things that basic needs to offer.
You mentioned a one on one meeting. Can you. Yeah. What is what is a one on one meeting?
Sure. So the non-clinical case management that we do with Enteral care is just a meeting with student.
Some of our students have an aversion to counseling in a clinical sense,
and so our meetings with the case manager is just really talking through what they might not want to talk about
(03:33):
with a clinician and then hopefully giving them a little bit of a warm reception and a handoff over to counseling.
And you also mentioned basic needs. And you can sum up some of the services that are provided in their basic needs is kind of this umbrella term.
Can you talk a little bit about how you all define basic needs and what are the all of
(03:56):
the programs and services that you all are offering to to address those basic needs?
I think basic needs is a little bit of a hot button item, a hot topic right now.
I would like to just talk about personally what basic needs means to me, and then I'll go to a professional sense of basic needs.
And so for me, basic needs is a human right.
So health care is a basic mental health care as well as a basic need, as well as food, housing and financial resources are all basic needs.
(04:24):
And so personally, I think that informs my professional understanding of what basic needs is on a college campus.
And so on a college campus, particularly the media fields and the other few basic needs,
and usually is food, housing, transportation and sometimes clothing.
And that's just helping students with the essentials that they might need to be
(04:46):
able to focus on their classwork and their co-curricular experiences on campus.
And so at Dominguez Hills, we have supplemental food options, which is the food pantry as well as meal assistance program.
And then we also have an opportunity for a student to sign up for coverage.
So those are our three options for food supplements and then for housing supplements.
(05:10):
We're trying to diversify our portfolio as it relates to housing,
but right now we're doing short term housing, which is a state in our university housing facilities.
And then also for students who might be student parents or my family,
we offer students an opportunity to stay at a hotel nearby, funded oral care for up to 14 days.
(05:31):
Sometimes it lasts a little bit longer,
but some folks need a little bit of time before they move into their forever home or their forever apartment, a more permanent stay.
So we try to give them help with transitional housing as well.
Sounds like you all are doing a lot to talk about why that work is important and within the scope of what we're doing here at Dominguez Hills.
(05:55):
So our hope is that a lot of the students that we're meeting with,
they are talking about I don't know if I could be a student here or I don't know if I could continue on with classes.
I'm thinking about dropping out because I don't have food and I don't have housing and sometimes receiving transportation.
So we're looking to beef up our transportation opportunities as well.
But our hope is that students find that getting a college education, specifically at Dominguez Hills,
(06:20):
is the help that some of their counterparts that are 20 years old and working three jobs don't have an opportunity to have someone
like Candace or Morgan and Pearl care to help them through the various nuances of what it means to be a young adult right now.
But when you think about a student who is 20 years old and a non student that's 20 years old,
(06:41):
they're having the same issues as they relate to food and housing insecurity.
And so I think the price of education is having advocates and having practitioners
who can work on your behalf in a way that another 20 year old who is not as.
Don't really have. That's really interesting. And I don't think I've heard someone kind of juxtapose being and the benefits of being
(07:04):
enrolled in college and being a student in higher ed and those who aren't in that way.
We always talk about like those long term things in terms of professional outcomes and learning and development,
but just being able to have those advocates that you have access to as a result of being enrolled is a really, really critical piece.
(07:25):
Basic needs is a right now thing, right? Like I'm thinking about not four years from now, I'm thinking about not even two years from now.
I'm thinking about right now I don't have the needs to live.
And so just the post is someone who isn't on a college campus.
It's really cool to have advocates. And then I think about being the undergraduate and I remember couch surfing and not
(07:48):
even knowing that me being on a homegirl couch for two weeks before my lease started,
it was me being housing insecure and it was like a thing in my college town.
Like for the first, I want to say three weeks of August, everyone was like staying at somebodys house until Lisa started over.
And now that I think about that, I'm like, Wow, we were making the best out of a difficult situation,
(08:14):
but not even knowing that it was a difficult situation and just trying to make it.
Absolutely. Because I remember the same thing. I think, you know,
it was a long running kind of joke that you cannot serve a dorm room and even now is different than it was then in terms of cost of living.
We talk a lot about culture of care on our campus, but the other piece of that is, is thriving students.
(08:38):
And I think one of the things you really touched on right now is that so many of our students are often just surviving,
thinking about the here and now and and the work that you all are doing are really trying to position them to thrive.
And you've touched on this a little bit, and I'm wondering if you can just expand a little bit more.
There's a large debate in higher ed and surrounding higher ed about whether
institutions should be in the business of providing basically services to students.
(09:02):
Is that more social services or is it mission drift or higher ed institutions?
What are your thoughts on that? A lot of our missions as it relates to higher education is all about transformation.
And so I don't know how we can transform students without meeting them as cliché
as they might sound where they are and if where they are is at a lack of food,
(09:24):
housing and other essential needs, then we should be doing that work.
It also for me is the equity piece that I don't think we talk a lot about with diversity, equity and inclusion.
How can we bring students to a place where they are at a baseline of no longer needing food resources or no longer needing housing resources?
(09:44):
How are we being equitable in that sense, specifically for people who have all their needs met,
like me and you or folks who are professors on campus in our tenure?
How can we teach them and look at them in the classroom, in their.
It's hard for them to focus, is hard for them to really know if they're going to show up or not,
(10:05):
because the varying things that are happening around them are not allowing them to thrive.
So, sure, we are running the risk of being another's social services,
but I would rather risk that the not I would rather it becomes a free for all, I guess, than not being able to do the work.
(10:25):
In your short time here, a relatively short time here, what impact have you seen?
Is there like a situation or a student situation that's debt that stands out to you,
that really represents the significance of the work that you are doing that?
Can you be able to share a little bit about,
I think a little bit about what makes me excited about coming to oral care is that there is a daily success story,
(10:47):
and I don't know that everyone has that type of return on investment the way that I do, but one that reaches my mind more vividly.
The student was in between housing situation.
So hearing anything helplessness as well as food insecurity as well as was a reengaged student so previously was at Dominguez
(11:09):
Hills and left and now was looking to come back and really complete what was only supposed to be one year worth of work.
And so when I spoke with this dated the first time, the student was very agitated.
So they had been bounced around from this place to that place and this place.
So I started the meeting with What can I do to help you?
(11:31):
I think the thing I was a bit taken aback by the question because sometimes I think we're asking like, what do you need?
What do you need? What do you need? But like, what can I specifically do to help you?
And so they didn't say it in this way, but like not being able to know the language for financial aid,
My aid is not working because I went into default and how can I turn around the default?
(11:52):
And so not even knowing the term default right is a barrier.
And also navigating financial aid and getting this duty on their books or their schedule to be able to talk through one on one what can happen.
So when you're calling these offices, sometimes it's very hard to be able to explain what you're going through and
what type of intervention is you might need if you don't know the language.
(12:15):
And that really helps me to understand how I can help students help themselves,
actually explaining to them a bit of language and asking what you need without having to bear yourself.
So I'm learning that our students really feel like they have to say the word to get the most help.
And I'm really trying to work them through. Like, you don't have to bear your entire soul to get help.
(12:37):
I'm going to help you whether you tell me the worst or not, you know?
But I think that one case helped me to understand that even our reengaged students really need a bit of help with language.
You know, you were talking a little bit earlier about how you define basic needs.
Our former ACI president once mentioned in a conversation with cabinet and some campus leaders that
(13:02):
information is a basic need for students having access to knowing what resources are available.
Can you talk a little bit about how you all are trying to reach out and communicate to students?
Let them know what resources are here and how can other professional staff, faculty, folks on campus help?
And amplifying that message. Folks can reach us by one or two oral care updates that flash to care.
(13:27):
And then also we have reprinted Olive Resource, our one sheet so that it makes it.
So what we're doing now and then I think because basic needs is a hot button topic and it is I think really a passion area for a lot of people.
I would love for folks to kind of think about what it might mean to work in a basic need center like tural care,
(13:51):
and then kind of think about how we can work together to offer support to students without duplicating resources.
So I don't know that necessarily. Every center needs a basic needs or a food pantry.
If when there is a food pantry on campus that folks can walk students to, or if there's a student who, like I haven't seen any help,
(14:14):
direct them to the oral care center so that we can get them the gamut of resources that we have available,
whether it be county resources, state resources, or federal resources.
All of that can be tapped into if we just know that that a student is in need.
Another part of that is an understanding of basic needs in a societal way in our society.
(14:35):
Food resources is an issue in our society.
Housing resources is an issue, and some things are societal, some things are institutional,
and some things are the things that we could do in our department.
And so a federally funded program, SNAP, which is a phrase I can help students find enough or camp fresh, but I can't change catfish eligibility.
(14:58):
I literally only have what I can do with my hands, and I'm going to keep my hands open to do the work.
But I really would like for folks to work in tandem with me.
Not to admit they're not, but that's just my picture.
This idea of how I feel like people can really work to support basic needs by not just talking, but like doing.
(15:18):
One of the benefits of that is that if a student is food insecure, says they're hungry,
haven't eaten that you are looking at that as more than just food insecurity.
So can you can you revisit that again? Because I think some of us soon comes and says, I'm hungry.
We're going to go buy that student lunch. And that is a good to eat. Feel good about that.
But how what is the philosophy for Toro Care on that situation and how do you all approach that?
(15:42):
What are some of the things you all are looking for when a student approaches you all with a specific need?
One specifically that comes to my mind now where they are like experiencing not enough
availability to food throughout their time in housing because they live on campus,
that the availability for food is limited. And so we understand that that is something that Aramark and other partners are working to support.
(16:06):
So in the meantime, turtle care is like looking to see if we can supplement by paying for student meals.
And then that's something that we can do for other students,
like being able to sustain is another thing that we're looking to do when we can help a student with one meal,
to help with one meal, to help 20 students, one one meal to make it equitable.
(16:27):
And so they're thinking about, okay, we can help this one student with the semester's worth of meals within a year for a lot more student.
So you can help a lot more with that as a basic need, right?
But as we're going through, that process is also work to support them with calories.
Let's also show them a tour of the pantry.
Let's also think about transportation to local grocers.
(16:50):
So when we go to the month, we'll buy a bus and take students to Aldi or Walmart or one of the.
The neighboring growth is in crisis. So we're thinking about how we can get folks to these places because it is a bit of a trek the world and maybe
the bus isn't really a practical way to get there because they go the opposite way to an actual grocery store.
(17:12):
So we're trying to think through ways to really help students in the moment,
but also a lasting change where that one time no, is not really cracking their day in their food insecurity.
But a federally funded program like ours could definitely, you know, put a dent in it.
And then how do I actually get to the grocery store on top of the terminal care, specifically basic needs, before it became real care.
(17:36):
And the team has been spending a lot of money on food in ways that other campuses
have been getting donations and not just donations from faculty and staff,
because, again, I think something that institutional and some things are societal.
And so I and myself, we're going to do, they'll have been really working to beef up our donations in the meantime, working on food bank relationships.
(18:01):
So we're like getting hygiene relationships for free, right?
So that's in the words our food pantry is going to look a lot different in the coming months because of our location changes,
but also because of the type of food that we're going to have in there that's going to be healthy and sustaining.
Not just a small thing of cereal, but like, how about a box of cereal?
(18:23):
How about rice? How about ramen, like things that are actually at sustenance?
But then diversifying our produce as well. So weekly deliveries of produce as well.
So we're looking to like have more tangible things in the food pantry in the coming months.
That's great. And, you know, really highlighting there how a lot of times if a student comes with an issue in terms of food,
(18:47):
that there's also this need maybe around other needs, like around transportation, maybe it's hygiene, maybe it's mental health.
Often we don't see the complexity of some of the challenges that students are really wrestling with in terms of their basic needs.
You talked a little bit about the money that you all have spent trying to address food insecurity.
One area that you all have invested heavily in is the emergency grants.
(19:09):
Can you talk a little bit about that service? What that is why that's important.
So our formerly known as emergency grant is now called the Squirrel Care Grant,
and we're working to support students who are having an extenuating circumstance or something that is unforeseen that we would like to help them with.
So sometimes it's car repairs or sometimes a student is like, I can't pay my rent this month and pay off my balance for school.
(19:36):
And so we help them with their rent payment in that regard.
The care grant is up to $1,000 every academic year, so they can apply for all of 2023 and also follow 2024.
And sometimes it's a bit more than $1,000 if we see that the need for the student is 1200 or sometimes it's even more.
(19:57):
The means is a really community oriented place. So I really love that about that.
And so we will move in ebb and flow for the need of the student.
So it's really good to have folks in various parts of the university working to support students with the grant.
And so you all are doing a lot of great work with students.
(20:18):
How do you measure success and how should we kind of think about measuring success for Fort Toro care on our campus?
That is a great question.
I personally would measure their success lateral care by reaching not necessarily more students because I do want to reach that,
but because a bit deeper than that.
(20:40):
I think that success for me what look like moving towards everyone, feeling like they can coordinate on behalf of the student.
They know where to go when there is a student in need or crisis,
or even a student that's harm to themselves or others like they have an actual understanding of the plan for students.
And I think that would be a success for me as far as basically, I think we'll always be serving students who have a need for essential services.
(21:08):
I think a success would be that we pitch in a bit more like there are opportunities for folks to come out and unpack pallets.
We had 16 pallets last week.
Maybe there are credits for graduate students to work with our data for, help us with knowing how we are impacting students.
I think the faculty members, it can really go as large and as broad as I can think of.
(21:33):
I can idea all day. And so do you believe that the work you all are doing impacts retention and learning and development, and if so, how?
Absolutely. I think I talked a little bit about like if a thing is not eating,
they are not doing if they do whatever it is on the syllabi or with whatever the faculty member is saying, that's like, I think.
(21:56):
A bit of it sometimes is I don't know how to write a paper and I've been depressed.
If I couldn't figure out how to write this APA style paper.
Also, my partner has been hitting me.
So all of these things have been happening to this one student in a semester.
And sometimes we don't know that all of those things are happening because there's not really enough time to sit down and talk through.
(22:21):
Well, that's why we have floral care to say, okay, now tell me, why are you depressed?
Oh, okay. So you're depressed because you're having a hard time writing papers.
Are you depressed about anything else? Oh, no, it's just the papers. Okay.
It sounds like we need to get you some help. Let's walk you over to the writing center.
Let's talk to you after you come back from the writing city. Did you get everything that you needed?
(22:41):
Okay. What else are you having an issue with? I can't afford the parking space.
Okay. What's happening? What do you need to get help with the parking bay?
All right, That's it literally begins to unfold and unfold.
So tomorrow here is really there to help people talk through what they might need.
Is there anything that, as you look forward towards the future that you're really excited about for Toro Care that's
(23:03):
on the horizon that you all may be working on or that you just hope to see materialized?
We're waiting on contracts to be signed and all that,
but I'm looking forward to being able to again diversify the types of food that is in the food pantry right now is a bit snacky,
is like, Oh, I can go get a snack, but I really look forward to there being full meals available.
(23:25):
I look forward to the food pantry, opening our forever home opening in the next few months with construction delays is understandable.
I'm really looking forward to students to come and feel like your your neighborhood Trader Joe's or your neighborhood bar and just come walk around.
Maybe you want to try a new fruit. Maybe you want to try a new vegetable.
(23:48):
Pao chicken available or vegan options available.
Like I really can't wait to see our students in the space really feeling like
they can have whatever they want to have because they deserve to have it.
It also sounds like there's going to be some great opportunities for others to get involved,
whether it's getting their hands dirty, like you mentioned,
or whether it's faculty, graduate students helping with maybe some of the research and understanding the impact that you all are having over there.
(24:15):
So so that's really exciting.
It sounds like you have some staff that are just doing some amazing work and Toro Care and that which also encompasses basic needs.
But one thing we know about working and doing that type of work is you're giving a lot of yourself.
It's a lot of and there's a lot of emotional aspects that are tied into it.
(24:35):
So how do we as a campus rally around and support you and your team as you will engage in this work?
We talk about the ways we can support students. We can donate, we can get our hands dirty, we can do research, we can do all of those things.
But how do we support those who are doing the work to make sure that you all don't burn out or feel isolated?
(24:56):
I would ask folks if they are passionate about basic needs to really like band together
with this to be a community member supportive in a ways that might be even just,
Hey, just checking on you. I heard about this opportunity when I was at Smorgasbord.
Maybe this might be a great person to link up with. I think that that goes a long way.
(25:17):
Also, assuming positive intent, I think sometimes folks are like really on fire for basic need that they forget that we're we're really we're doing
the work of basic needs and it might not go as quickly as they've seen about other campuses or in other nonprofits.
But if you have your intention is to help and you have an understanding of basic needs,
(25:39):
I think it would be good to be able to tell us what you think we don't already know.
And if we do know, identify, okay, yeah, we can we can partner in that way,
but definitely coconspirators is the vibe that I think we could really use.
I did want to highlight working hard because it has been doing this work for five or so
(25:59):
years and really championing students in a way that I think really exceptional work.
And so I just want to highlight that too, that she's been working in,
that she's been doing this work for quite some time and has had coconspirators on campus worked with her,
and I think we should just continue with it and that's awesome.
Yeah, Morgan is amazing and has been doing amazing work for a while on that front.
(26:23):
So. So thank you. Thank you for that. In terms of feedback and being coconspirators,
are there structured ways that you will prefer for folks to try to engage with you as their committees feedback forms,
or do you just want them to kind of reach out, send the emails? What's the best way for folks to kind of reach out?
We do have a basic needs committee that meets at least once a month.
(26:44):
So like a work group to work through varying topics and trends that are happening.
And basically we also have a triple care impact review.
So you can tell us how our customer service or. How we have impacted our communication with you that's available.
I'm from around away, like I'm from the South side of Chicago.
Like, you can totally send me an email, a text message, a message.
(27:07):
I just found out that has checked so you can reach me.
I don't know. I will post it now.
I think the feedback is low, so sometimes it's there to help us to grow.
Sometimes we need correction. And so I'm open to be corrected.
I'm open to be back. That's slightly uncomfortable because I think that's the only way that we're going to make it better.
(27:32):
That muscle is not going to grow without feedback, and so I'm open to all forms of feedback.
Is there anything that I haven't asked you about or that you want to share a little bit more about there?
Any burning thoughts or comments?
I just wanted to leave with just talking a little bit about how inspired I am to work in the fields and work with a community of folks.
(27:54):
And I talk about this often, but when I first became a member of the nation, I had one student who was having an issue,
and so within a day I was on the the line with like an associate dean and a dean and
two faculty members and a community member who was trying to support the student.
(28:15):
And that really just showed me that folks are willing to mobilize for one student.
And that shows you the heart of this community. And I appreciate that.
I appreciate so wholeheartedly being a part of this community.
I love that. And this is a very special and special place.
And that's one of the benefits of working here, is being able to be a part of that community.
(28:39):
It is an inspiring piece that kind of really helps us continue with the work day in and day out.
And I think that's why it's also important, like in terms of that feedback,
like being open to that and love the way you conceptualize that because you have so many people on
this campus who truly care about students and care about this and that you all are engaging in,
and they have some amazing thoughts and ideas and and being open to feedback is an
(29:01):
additional way to cultivate community and allow people to feel like they have a stake.
So thank you for for that. Appreciate your time and for you being here with us.
And thank you for the work that you're doing and just all the ways that you've advanced oral care and basic needs in your short time here.
Looking forward to everything that is to come. Thank you for having me. Great thoughts.
(29:25):
Beyond the rhetoric is a production of the Division of Student Affairs at California State University, Dominguez Hills.
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