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SALT LAKE CITY — The University of Utah's Basic Needs Collective is pressing forward in an effort to help U. students obtain their most common needs.
"Among the top needs endorsed by students, financial assistance tops the list at 57%, followed closely by transportation at 48%, housing at 44%, food at 36%, health care at 27%, and mental health at 23%. Notably, 44% of U. students have endorsed four or more of these crucial needs," says a press release from @theU. The numbers come from the Basic Needs Collective's data taken when meeting with students and determining their biggest needs.
The collective, which started in fall 2019, offers education and assistance in housing, food security, finances, clothing, gender-related services, health care and even pet care for students who have pets. Having access to these resources helps students become what the program refers to as "basic needs secure."
"We serve any student regardless of basic need security," said Sara Garza-Levitt, the inaugural director of the collective. "If you're a student at the University of Utah, and you want to know about campus and community resources that are available to you, come to us because we can help. We make it our business to actively research and know the resources that students have access to."
Garza-Levitt spearheaded the launch of the program because of her own experiences getting her degrees.
"Largely due to basic need insecurities and needing to focus on work and parenting, it took me 23 years to earn my first college degree. ... I (then) earned my (bachelor of social work) in two years and my (master of social work) in one year after that because I gained basic need security, and I was able to thrive academically," Garza-Levitt said.
She is currently working on their doctorate in social work, emphasizing her research on how poverty in college students affects their health and academic success.
Awareness of the program was minimal until the collective was offered the opportunity to wrap the block U. on campus for the first two weeks of the semester.
"In the first week of fall 2022, we saw eight students come through our collective. The first week (this semester) we saw 25 students, so I'm encouraged," Garza-Levitt said.
The collective has made the process of getting help easy for University of Utah students, starting with its website that lists office hours and contact information. From the front page of the site, students can fill out a self-service form that will help them arrange to talk with the collective and get what they need. Students, faculty and community members can also refer students who they feel would benefit from the assistance provided.
Other universities around the state have similar resources to help with basic needs security. Their websites are linked below.
- Brigham Young University: foodandhousinginsecurity.byu.edu
- Southern Utah University: suu.edu/hope-pantry/financial-food-rent-resources.html
- Utah State University: usu.edu/snac/basic-needs-resources
- Utah Tech University: src.utahtech.edu/resources
- Utah Valley University: uvu.edu/studentcare
- Weber State University: weber.edu/student-access-success/help.html
