Sabrina Arredondo was the first person in her family to leave her home in Los Angeles to go to college. She’s a full-time student and works more than 30 hours a week at Mr. Rooter Plumbing to pay her bills.
“I’m over $20,000 in debt just this year, and I still have one more year left here,” said Arredondo, whose parents, while proud of her for going to college, don’t have extra income to help her with tuition and bills.
Arredondo is one of the hundreds of students taking advantage of Chico State’s Basic Needs programs. Chico State has begun looking into new options to help students with financial insecurities and unexpected obstacles while at the university.
Chico State’s recently started its Basic Needs program to provide students with programs to improve their chances of success in college.
Basic Needs runs the Wildcat Food Pantry, which provides food access to students who have food insecurities, and also provides help applying to CalFresh, which provides monthly benefits to help them purchase food
The Basic Needs program also helps provide supplemental food, access to meals, and application assistance for CalFresh and SNAP.
“We also offer access to hygiene products and basic needs service for students in need,” said Joe Picard, the Basic Needs program director.
One of its most popular programs is short-term emergency housing, which offers one to 14 days of free housing for students who are in crisis. Through University Housing and its housing program partners, Basic Needs is able to offer shelter to students who need it.
To be eligible for the programs, a student must be enrolled at Chico State and cannot have any money due to the university. The student must also have applied for financial aid.
The Basic Needs program is “looking for new ways to advertise our programs,” said Whitney Bland, a volunteer at the food pantry on the Chico State campus.
The program is funded by university donors. It’s run by community volunteers,
Anyone interested can join the Chico Cares campaign, which helps raise funds for the program.
The Basic Needs project is also always looking for volunteers and donations. Its office is located on campus in the Student Service Center, Room 196..
-- Natalia Marcus
Photo by Natalia Marcus