College of Allied Health Sciences welcomes food pantry

The ground floor of the Health Sciences Building on the University of Cincinnati’s medical campus has been recently outfitted with two new fixtures. Across from the student learning commons area, visitors will find a refrigerator and cabinet that are stocked with fresh and shelf-stable food. The hallway space has been transformed into a mini food pantry where the university’s students, faculty, and staff can shop for items they need for free.

It’s the first satellite pantry location of the Bearcats Pantry and Resource Center, which provides the university community with a wide variety of resources, from free food and clothing to social services and family support. Associate Dean of Students Daniel Cummins founded the Bearcats Pantry (BCP) in November of 2016, in response to concerns voiced by academic advisors and faculty who learned of students’ food insecurity—an issue that affects a national average of 41% of college students. What started as a small closet stocked with a few pantry staples in French Hall has since organically grown into the BCP and Resource Center with three market locations on the Clifton, Clermont and Blue Ash campuses, plus the new satellite pantry on the medical campus.

“We have continuously explored how to develop nontraditional strategies to address nontraditional problems for our Bearcats,” Cummins says. “Our vision is to be a premier model resource center for urban campuses. What we are doing at UC is not being done anywhere else.”

Like the three market locations, the satellite pantry in the Health Sciences Building is open during the week and manned by student volunteers and interns. Last year, the BCP and Resource Center began partnering with students from the School of Social Work and the Department of Rehabilitation, Exercise and Nutrition Sciences within the College of Allied Health Sciences. After researching and building relationships with community-based resource organizations, a fourth-year social work student intern meets with students who utilize the pantries to learn about their needs and connect them with external resources and programming. During the summer semester, a nutrition student intern designs educational materials that communicate the center’s services and the importance of eating healthy. 

“Both internship positions support the center’s mission while providing aspiring allied health professionals with valuable career experience,” says Amy McMahon, MSW, an associate professor who oversees the BCP and Resource Center’s social work intern and serves on its advisory group. “Through their work with the center, the social work student intern develops professional relationships with various social services organizations in our community and receives firsthand experience equipping clients with the right resources and support.”

The idea for a satellite location was born from conversations the center’s team had with its advisory group. While the largest and primary market, which was formerly located in French Hall, now exists in the lower level of Stratford Heights Building 16 on UC’s Clifton campus, Cummins and his team recognize that it’s not always convenient for students to visit. The team aims to expand the center’s presence by adding more satellite pantry locations in colleges across the Clifton campus.

Cummins and his team continue to evolve the center’s resources as they interact with more Bearcats and learn about their diverse needs. In addition to visiting the center’s markets for free groceries (including hygiene items and cleaning supplies) and getting connected to external resources, Bearcats can request dining hall meal vouchers, grab a to-go bag of prepackaged foods at various sites across campus, shop for free professional clothing at the center’s Career Closet, and enroll to receive free baby diapers and wipes every month.

“We really try to provide a broad range of resources because we know basic needs insecurity looks different for everyone and we want to have something that can support a student no matter what their needs and story are,” says Joy Kostansek, program coordinator for the BCP and Research Center, who oversees volunteers, food management, and other programming.

The BCP and Resource Center is fully funded through donations. Financial donations enable the team to purchase food in bulk from the Freestore Foodbank, and local groups that host food, hygiene item, and clothing drives help keep the center stocked with necessary items. While the center buys produce from the Freestore Foodbank and partners with a produce supplier, it also has a hydroponic system and recently planted a garden off campus to create a sustainable produce supply. 

“We’re very proud of the work we’re doing, and we’re just getting started,” Cummins says. “You haven’t seen the best of what the BCP and Resource Center is going to become because we are passionate and excited about how we plan to serve our Bearcats going forward.”

Featured image at the top: Student worker Jorin Hanson, shows off the new satellite location in the back of the ground floor of the Health Sciences Building. Photo/Provided.