Connector Staff
Some people begin their days stressed and hungry, not knowing where they are going to get their next meal or how they are going to pay for it. For UMass Lowell students who are in need of food, one solution may be closer than most would think.
The food pantry located in the Fox Hall Mailroom on East Campus attempts to help students get the food they need to make it by.
Many would associate people with these needs as being poor and uneducated, but few are aware that people with these needs are students of UMass Lowell.
Students experiencing hunger and homelessness work closely with Stephanie Block, an assistant professor of psychology at UMass Lowell.
“They tell us that they are living in a tent, or in a car, or they are couch-surfing, and we work with them with the goal of finding something more permanent,” Block said.
According to Block, when she joined UMass Lowell in 2011, she paired with Professor Doreen Arcus, who was already working with students that aged out of foster care and were dealing with food and housing needs. They created a new club on campus called the NAVIGATORS to help students “navigate” the college system and get the support they need.
Block also worked alongside Julie Nash, associate dean in the College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, Debra Finch, a professor in the business school at UMass Lowell, and Jane Andrews, wife of Dean Frank Andrews.
Together with the NAVIGATORS, she said, they opened the pantry on East Campus this past fall, which provides students with free non-perishable foods and toiletries. According to Block, the pantry has no requirements or an application process, and completely protects students’ anonymity.
Michelle Wojcik, president of the NAVIGATORS, said that hunger is an issue many students on campus are unaware of.
“It’s kind of an invisible need, but there is a need on this campus,” she said. “Students were coming with food insecurity. They didn’t know where they’d get their next meal.”
Some students said they were surprised to hear that college students are suffering from these needs. Maureen Fullerton, a physical therapy major, says she was unaware that hunger is an issue on campus.
“I just assumed most students have meal plans, and those who choose not to get them have enough to get by,” said Fullerton. “I know most college students are not in the best financial state, but I would have never guessed that some were in need of food.”
While this assumption is a common one, Block says, it is not uncommon that university students can suffer from these needs.
“Any student can struggle with finances and budgeting, but if a student does not have immediate family that they can turn to in a jam to get the resources they need, then getting basic needs met can be very difficult,” said Block.
Part of the reason for this assumption, Wojcik said, is that people have a misunderstanding and stereotyped image of what hunger truly is.
“You don’t know who someone is,” she said. “You might go to class every day, and then they go home and they might not have something to eat. Anybody can go through this. It’s not stereotypical.”
Block said she agrees.
“You don’t have to be homeless to be using the food pantry,” she said. “Things happen; your car breaks down, and all of sudden you have to pay this big bill, and then what is going to suffer that month? For many students, unfortunately, what suffers is their nutrition.”
According to Wojcik, students’ health is not the only thing that suffers when they experience hunger. She said that this issue affects a student’s ability to focus on his or her work.
“We’re trying to just eliminate that additional stressor, so that way they will have the opportunity to focus on what they’re here for, and become successful graduates and members of the community,” she said.
However, Wojcik says it is difficult to reach all the students in need because social stigma causes many of them to be reluctant to get the necessary help.
“The hardest part will be finding the students who would benefit from it, because it’s not something that you can visibly see, and it might not be something that someone is just willing to come forward and tell you,” she said.
Suhad Shahin, a psychology major, says there are a lot of pressures in college that make students feel like they have to live up to certain expectations of status. She says that the standards need to be changed in order to reduce the fear of judgment among students who need help.
“I think it is understandable why they would want to conceal their need for help,” said Shahin. “The issue lies within the culture of our campus, and any campus really, where we allow such expectations to dictate people’s actions.”
The change in the culture starts with the students. Matthew Laverty, a senior English major and an employee at the Merrimack Valley Food Bank, said that students can help change the lives of their fellow peers in need by being more involved in the cause.
“I think what we can do as students is first to raise awareness about the food bank, and second to actually coordinate drives which obtain food that can be easily distributed to these students in need,” he said.
Other students feel that their new awareness of the issue and the food bank has inspired them to want to support these students by giving back.
“Now…it’s more important than ever to give to those in need,” Fullerton said. “I think a lot of people should donate to the food pantry. I know I will.”
