Cardinals experiencing housing and basic needs insecurity find assistance

Nearly 200 North Central students facing financial struggles and housing insecurity received some form of direct assistance during the 2023-24 academic year through a state grant that College faculty and staff collaborated to secure. Countless more current and future students will benefit from campus assistance programs and resources that got a boost from the grant.

North Central was one of only 10 colleges and universities from across the state to be awarded an Illinois Board of Higher Education (IBHE) End Student Housing Insecurity (ESHI) grant. A stipulation was that the $129,992 in funds needed to be used between Nov. 17, 2023, and June 30, 2024.

Dr. Jessica Brown, vice president for student affairs and athletics, served as project lead. A committee of key representatives from student support offices across campus worked to ensure the funds would have the greatest impact on students by the June deadline. A final report on expenditures during the eight-month grant period shows that all but $300 of the award was used to directly support Cardinals in need. 

“This bold effort is a perfect example of how deeply our faculty and staff care about our students,” said Dr. Abiódún Gòkè-Pariolá, president of North Central College. “They saw a need and took action to address it by working together. By pooling their expertise, they developed innovative solutions for North Central students who face significant financial obstacles while working to earn their degree. Our institution is grateful to the Illinois Board of Higher Education for partnering with us by providing the grant.”

Brown credited the committee for its dedication and vision: “I’m so proud of the work the committee did in a relatively short period of time. Our campus is a close-knit community, and you really saw that at work on this project — the seamless collaboration and creative ideas on how to spend the grant funds to support our students in very grassroots ways.”

Examples of the support provided:

• Cardinal Operation Hope and Help presented 148 vouchers to 130 unique students — a total of nearly $57,000 to put towards expenses related to housing, transportation, childcare, clothing, food and personal products.
• 11 students experiencing homelessness were linked to resources within and beyond the college. Some seeking support faced multiple challenges, such as disabled family members needing ongoing care resulting in family job or income loss; addiction within the family resulting in financial loss; or medical debt from chronic illness resulting in serious financial debt. All circumstances were major barriers to securing housing.
• Dyson Wellness Center dispersed a total of $10,000 across 11 students who applied for assistance with health-related costs that were impacting their ability to afford housing.
• Giving boxes around campus were stocked with nearly $10,000 worth of essentials so that students in need would have easy access to items such as food, toiletries, feminine hygiene products, school and laundry supplies, childcare items, and more.
• Nearly $3,000 helped 31 incoming students with travel costs, so they could attend new student orientation.
• Housing kits were provided to students in need of essentials like towels, sheets, pillows and kitchenware.
• Oesterle Library and Learning Commons purchased 700+ books worth a total of nearly $15,000 for the library’s Cardinal Textbooks loan program, which now includes required texts from every undergraduate course. In addition, the Emergency Textbook Program issued a total of more than $6,500 to 31 students so they could purchase needed texts for classes.
• Library and Office of Information Technology Services staff used nearly $15,000 in grant funds to purchase 14 laptops, 10 TI-84 calculators and other items for students to access through the Technology Loan Program.
• The Center for Financial Literacy held three workshops to introduce students to the basics of retirement planning, saving and credit cards.

Students receiving support through the grant shared their gratitude for the significant impact the funds had on their lives. One student stated to the Dyson Wellness Center, “Thank you so much for this! You don’t know what this means to me and my family.”

Congratulations to all involved with the project: Jessica Brown, Shelly Galasso, Rima Abdelrahim, Michelle Rashad, Steve Weaver, Julie Carballo, Rachel Jones, Sam Rosenberg, Meyani Mantano, Ryan Decker, Michelle Boule Smith, Matt Burden and the Office of Information Technology Services team, Lisa Pettaway, Tatiana Sifri and the Dyson Wellness Center team, Eric Armstrong, Nicole Wilkins, Savannah Gill, Carmelita Gee, Nicole Rivera, Mindy Diaz and all of the student success coaches.

Student affairs leadership and the committee will continue to work to sustain a cohesive network of support for students who experience housing insecurity.