Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week is a time for us to deepen our understanding of how these issues affect our CWRU community. It is also a time to provide information on support resources here at the university. The goals are to grow the conversation, reduce stigma and barriers to support, and hear from you on how CWRU can better support people.
Housing insecurity and homelessness can affect individuals in many ways. Housing insecurity includes an inability to pay rent, rent increases that are not affordable, leaving a household due to safety, or moving three or more times a year. Homelessness can look like temporarily living with a relative or friend, couch surfing, temporarily living at a hotel without a permanent home to return to, living in areas or spaces not meant for human habitation, or living in a camper.
Food insecurity is the state of being without reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food. Food insecurity can be worrying whether food will run out before you get money to buy more, not being able to afford to eat balanced meals, cutting meals or skipping meals or being hungry but not eating because there isn’t enough money for food, and/or losing weight because of similar reasons.
To ensure students have what they need, the Dean of Students Office has developed comprehensive basic needs resource lists covering a variety of needs including: child care and parenting, clothing and laundry, financial stability, furniture and household items, hygiene and cleaning, legal assistance, health insurance, nutritious food, pets and emotional support animals, pregnancy and parenting, secure housing, SNAP, tax preparation and filing assistance, transportation, and utilities.
If you or someone you know is facing food insecurity, the CWRU Community Pantry is here to support you. The pantry is open Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The pantry is open to all (students, faculty, staff and community members) and offers perishable and non-perishable goods. It is located at Carlton Commons (11892 Carlton Road).
If you have questions or would like support in navigating these resources, contact the Dean of Students Office at 216.368.1527 or at deanofstudents@case.edu. If you are interested in supporting the basic needs efforts on our campus either through volunteering, monetary or food contributions, or awareness support, check out the Dean of Students Office website to learn more.