The Hope Center and Jobs for the Future Partner to Address Basic Needs at Community Colleges

Ashley Bliss LimaThe Hope Center and Jobs for the Future (JFF) have partnered in an effort to accelerate the distribution of emergency aid to college students affected by the pandemic. They will work with the JFF Student Success Center Network and 52 of its member community colleges to adapt best practices that address students’ basic needs insecurity.

The Hope Center’s research has revealed that basic needs insecurity creates significant barriers to a student’s success and completion, disproportionately affecting Black, Latinx, Indigenous and low-income students. During fall 2020, nearly three in five students said they suffered from food or housing insecurity; some were homeless. However, The Hope Center also discovered that the financial supports meant to get students through the pandemic were underutilized by those most in need.

The collaboration crosses state borders and includes California, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas. Student success centers in those states will receive technical assistance from The Hope Center as they implement programs that aim to address the gap in student financial success. Colleges will also be guided as they design data collection and assessment models to better reflect the experiences of students struggling to access basic supports.

“Addressing student basic needs is an investment in college completion,” said Ashley Bliss Lima, associate director of community college success at JFF. This work is about scaling high-impact approaches to emergency student aid that will help extend much-needed relief to community college students across the country.”