MCLA Volunteer Center Spencer Moser and staffer and student Isabella Fuller at the Essential Needs Center, a resource for students in emergencies. Students can also find out about other local resources to help them through their college years.
The center offers canned and refrigerated foods as well as meals-to-go and kitchen implements.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — College can be busy and stressful with classes, sports, studying and activities — with little time in between to attend to basic needs. Especially for students who are far from support at home.
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts is ensuring that students have resources when they're running low on necessities like food and care items.
That's how first-year student Isabella Fuller ended up working at the Essential Needs Center, or ENC, in the Amsler Campus Center.
"I actually reached out to Spencer [Moser, the coordinator] because I needed help receiving some items that I couldn't get a hold of — I live far away from home," she said. "He was great, and he let me know about this opportunity that he had posted to work with the center. And so I applied for that, and I was able to get going with that —here I am. I love it."
Moser, director of the MCLA Volunteer Center, said the center had started out smaller but has since grown to include a wide range of products —from small appliances and storage containers to frozen dinners to personal care items. His budget has a small allotment that's supplemented by grants and by membership in the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts.
The ENC is designed to support students who may be struggling economically, whose meal plans can't quite cover the month or who also may be missing meals because they're commuting, working multiple jobs or participating in sports.
"This does not replace a meal plan, that's really important. It just supplements," said Moser. "It's an emergency."
He said this fall there were about 400 to 500 repeat students. The center offers canned and refrigerated foods, meals, clothing, small appliances, kitchen and storage supplies, and personal care items for free.
"There are people who come in every day," Fuller said. "It is a space designed for the students. They can come in, you can see that there's just food on the shelves. There's so much food. You have hygiene items. You have ready-to-go meals for students that need to be on the go. You have a bundle program where you can apply for so many different things that you need."
The trustees had their reception at center after their December meeting as President James Birge thought it important for them to see the kind of work the college is doing to provide resources to the student body.
"We have commuter students who don't live here and they don't have a meal plan, but they're food insecure. We know that about 38 percent of students nationally —and that's about the case here —are food insecure," he said. "But it's also the case for students who do have plans, but who might not be able to be here during hours of operation, athlete students participating in performing arts, they may not have the access to the dining services."
Sometimes people need a winter coat, Birge said, because they may come from a region that's not attuned to New England winters.
"It's a place for student leaders to exercise some of their leadership," he said. "[Moser] can't run it alone. So student leaders really take the mantle of this and make sure that people know about it. They manage the food so that things that are out of date get pulled off, things that need to be added ... so it's a good opportunity for students who may not have food insecurity that want to do something about that and so it's a great student leadership opportunity for them as well."
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
Your Comments
iBerkshires.com welcomes critical, respectful dialogue. Name-calling, personal attacks, libel, slander or foul language is not allowed. All comments are reviewed before posting and will be deleted or edited as necessary.
No Comments
North Adams Arts Commission OKs 'Hatchlings' Installations for Downtown
By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
Vanessa Hooper of Studio HHH gives a presentation on the light structures to the Public Arts Commission on Thursday.
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — A light installation that's graced the Esplanade and Greenway in Boston the last couple years will spend the spring, and likely the summer, in North Adams.
The Public Arts Commission last week enthusiastically approved a proposal by Studio HHH to set up the "Hatchlings," six lighted half shells, at points around the downtown.
The studio has offices in Greylock Works, where the Hatchlings were built. The half shells are a metal framework strung with LED lights that can be programmed. Two are solar-powered and the others require electricity.
"They really just generally attract a lot of attention and people wanting to come ... they just sort of flock to it and want to take photos," said Vanessa Hooper, director of Studio HHH.
She gave a presentation on their construction and showed pictures of people interacting with them during their time in Boston.
"I included these photos because we were actually really surprised that a lot of people come during the day and still like to take photographs in them as they are, this sort of like basket-woven black structure is also just really beautiful, and people love that, too."
They spent a year on the Esplanade, playing off the iconic Hatch Shell, and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, until all nine were moved to the Greenway last November.
A light installation that's graced the Esplanade and Greenway in Boston the last couple years will spend the spring, and likely the summer, in North Adams. click for more
Capped by Sam St. Peter’s come-from-behind win in the final bout of the day to win the 285 crown, the Spartans placed second at the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Championships at Mount Greylock. click for more
Roads, and especially bridges and overpasses, will likely become slick and hazardous from snow, sleet and ice accumulations. Plan on slippery road conditions. Power outages and tree damage are possible due to the ice, snow and winds.
click for more
Child Care of the Berkshires has an ambitious goal to grow over the next three years — more educators, more programs and more families being served.
click for more
A few years ago, she purchased the former carriage barn of the Cutting Mansion on East Main Street, bringing a number of other wellness practitioners under the Optimal Healing umbrella.
click for more