Point Park University sophomore Chloe Humway believes on-campus resources like a free food pantry and community garden can be vital to students.
And to some, those resources can be the deciding factor when attending a college, she said.
“It is almost like a life-changing thing,” Humway said. “We have a cafeteria, a cafe and other places, but the pantry is essential to first-year students.”
On Thursday, state Secretary of Education Carrie Rowe and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis visited Point Park to visit the food pantry, community garden and The Nook, a small community kitchenette where students can cook their own meals.
Those resources were made possible in part through funding from the state’s Hunger-Free Campus Initiative.
Since 2023, the state government has provided $3 million in funding to 92 postsecondary institutions like Point Park. This year, the university received $33,500 in state funding to grow its Pioneer Pantry, an initiative it started in 2017.
“One of the things that I like so much about this story is that it actually started in something the size of a closet,” Rowe said. “Somebody recognized that there was a need and said, we’re going to do what we can with what we have.”
Other area colleges receiving funding through the hunger-free campus initiative this year include Carnegie Mellon, Slippery Rock, Chatham, Robert Morris and Carlow universities.
Nationwide, 59% of college students report some form of basic needs insecurity, ranging from food and housing to transportation or health care, according to Temple University’s Hope Center for Basic Student Needs. About 41% experience food insecurity.
Heather Starr Fiedler, managing director of Point Park’s center for civic and community engagement, said use of the pantry and other resources has grown over the years. She attributes the increase to need and awareness. Resources are listed on course syllabi, said Humway, a student.
“It makes a private institution seem attainable,” sophomore Natalie Quinn said.
Point Park also offers “break boxes,” a box of food for students that stay on campus during academic breaks, Starr Fiedler said.
About 40% of Point Park’s undergraduate population is Pell Grant eligible, meaning those students meet financial criteria for need-based funding without having to repay.
“It’s a difficult economic climate,” said Chris Brussalis, Point Park’s president. “The university does everything it can to provide that support. It’s our responsibility to operate as a university as efficiently as possible, because we’re constantly trying to maintain and try to keep down the cost of higher education.”
Rowe said that colleges statewide can learn from Point Park in working to balance financial responsibility with student affordability. The university now has more than 200 partners with its food security initiatives, she said.
“The university itself doesn’t need to do it all,” Rowe said. “They just need to make a start.”
College students can also turn to PA EmpowerU, a website Rowe dubbed a “one-stop shop.” The website connects students to resources ranging anywhere from mental health, financial, housing, transportation and food supports.
“Universities and colleges can look to their partners for help, and they can also look to the PA EmpowerU hub and know where the grants are and know where the help is, and then make sure that students are aware,” Rowe said.
More than 1 million Pennsylvanians of working age have some college completed, but no credential, Rowe said. The hunger-free campus initiative can try to solve that.
“We think that by providing some funding in areas like this, we’re going to be able to have people come back and say, ‘We can help you with those needs, and you’re going to be able to get that credential and then positively influence the workforce,’ ” Rowe said.
Starr Fiedler said it took a team effort to grow Point Park’s initiatives into what they are today. Getting students involved to volunteer at the food pantry, community garden and kitchenette helps reduce the stigma that surrounds food insecurity, she said.
“It’s something every college should think about,” Humway said. “It should be everywhere.”