From Germanna Community College:
During this difficult time, Germanna Community College has launched an effort to help students more easily tap into a broad range of social, financial, and legal services.
Single Stop appointments, currently offered virtually as part of Germanna’s response to COVID-19, will connect students and their families to resources that may alleviate financial and personal obstacles that prevent them from graduating. GCC is currently offering all classes and services online. Once the pandemic is behind us, Single Stop appointments will continue to be available onsite at all brick-and-mortar Germanna locations through Student Services.
“We love our students and understand that many of them face substantial challenges as they better their and their loved ones’ futures,” Germanna President Janet Gullickson said. “Single Stop is a tool we are using to help connect students with available resources.”
Through a combination of technology, consulting and training, Germanna’s Single Stop team is providing students with information about which federal, state and local benefits they are eligible to receive and will guide students through the process of applying for benefits.
In the first week of the Single Stop program at Germanna, 16 students were able to schedule appointments to get help with food, housing, child care, emergency aid, and more.
In one case, a student and her family who had always been able to support themselves needed help after everyone in the family was laid off due to Coronavirus closures.
“The student and her mother had never applied for assistance before, and were afraid that they would not be eligible for help,” said Germanna’s Taylor Landrie, a Care Program specialist at the college.
Landrie said using Single Stop screening and having an appointment with Single Stop trained-staff at Germanna helped the student and her mother apply for food assistance and learn about other resources that will help the student stay in school and help her family stay afloat while looking for new jobs.
“In another case, a mom of two was desperately trying to juggle bills and the cost of food while serving as a caretaker, not just for her kids, but also for elderly family members,” Landrie said. “This student needed help finding resources immediately to feed her family while waiting to find out if she was eligible for unemployment and SNAP. Learning about community food resources was a huge relief for her and let her feel like she could breathe for the first time in weeks. She’s able to feed her kids and the rest of her family because of resources recommended through a Single Stop appointment.”
Dr. Tiffany Ray, Vice President of Student Services said: “Our staff in Student Services are committed to working with students to remove external barriers that may impede their academic success. This allows us to help students stay on the fastest path towards graduation.”
More information about Single Stop and other support services for Germanna students can be found at germanna.singlestoptechnologies.com.
Single Stop provides coordinated access to a safety net worth nearly $1 trillion and services provided by nearly 1 million nonprofits, connecting people to the resources they need to attain higher education, obtain good jobs, and achieve financial self-sufficiency.
Since 2007, Single Stop has connected 1.7 million households in eight states to $5 billion of resources and services. Single Stop provides community-based organizations, community colleges, and four-year universities with training, evaluation, program support, change management consulting, and proprietary technology. These tools help provide low-income families with wraparound services that include benefits screening, application assistance, case management, tax preparation, and legal and financial counseling.
Learn more at www.singlestopusa.org
