Student Support Under One Roof

Colleges and universities offer a wide range of resources designed to help students succeed, but having those supports available doesn’t necessarily mean students know where to find them. For students juggling food insecurity, housing challenges, financial strain or other gaps in basic needs, navigating a web of campus offices can be another barrier to getting help.

Some institutions are trying to eliminate that navigation burden by making it dramatically easier for students to get help. Temple University is betting that one way to do that is by putting all essential needs support under one roof.

The public university in Philadelphia last week opened the Christopher and Julie Barnett Essential Needs Hub, a centralized 26,000-square-foot space that offers students new and expanded resources addressing food and housing insecurity, transportation, clothing, mental and physical health, financial aid, technology access, and other needs.

John Fry, president of Temple, said the hub’s prominent location in the university’s student center was intentional, both to make resources easier to find and to normalize seeking support.

“It’s a space that conveys respect, dignity, access and welcoming, and it’s not something hidden away in a corner somewhere where people have to go find it,” Fry said. “It’s right there. It’s out front, and I think the message is that ‘Look, everyone has challenges and struggles. Come here, and this is a community that will serve you.’”

Fry said philanthropy played a significant role in supporting the hub, with donors motivated by improving the student experience. The space is named for university trustee Christopher Barnett and his wife, Julie, in recognition of their generosity to Temple.

“The philanthropy behind this has also been very meaningful,” Fry said. “Not only the amount, which has been significant, but also the intent of the donors who understand these issues and really were motivated by, ‘How do we help Temple students have the most successful experience possible?’”

The essential needs hub: Jodi Bailey Accavallo, vice president of student affairs, said the university conducted more than 100 interviews with students, faculty and staff to help inform the design of the hub. That process found that 65 percent of Temple students reported being unaware of available support services.

“Students don’t experience a university by department. They don’t know who to ask for specifically when they have a problem. They go because they have a problem, and then they need somebody to solve it,” Accavallo said. “We wanted to create a place for students to be able to start. That no matter where you come in, you’re going to get the help you need, and we will be able to do that for you.”

The initiative comes as basic-needs insecurity remains widespread among college students nationwide. A 2024 survey from Temple’s Hope Center for Student Basic Needs found that more than half of students nationally experienced at least one form of food or housing insecurity.

Reducing the stigma associated with seeking help was also central to Temple’s approach. Accavallo noted that even the name of the hub was intentional.

“We used the word ‘essential’ versus ‘basic’ for our needs, because if you don’t eat, you don’t sleep and you can’t get here, then nothing else matters,” Accavallo said. “Those are essential. We know that based on a hierarchy of need and all of the different social determinant models.”

One of the hub’s most significant expansions is the Cherry Pantry, Temple’s on-campus food pantry, which now occupies 3,000 square feet and provides students with free nutritious food and personal care products. The larger space allows for additional food storage, more frequent deliveries and a more consistent supply of fresh produce. It also houses a SPOT Period Satellite Menstrual Hub, offering free period products to the university community.

The expansion comes after the original pantry served more than 800 students per week last year, Accavallo said.

“Our students responded to it resoundingly. And so from there, we said, ‘OK, what else can we do?’ And the way that the Essential Needs Hub is set up actually now is very much like an IKEA,” Accavallo said. “So if you’re starting to think about the fact that you have food insecurity, from there, you actually exit out through the hub itself, so that there are other services that you walk through, and it might trigger, ‘Oh, I do need to talk to this person, or I would like that other service as well.’”

Other resources in the hub address needs beyond food insecurity. Temple Thrift provides students with affordable clothing, shoes and other essentials, as well as free graduation regalia. Dedicated health and well-being spaces offer resources for emotional wellness, relaxation, mindfulness, self-care and sensory needs.

But the hub is also designed to serve as a gateway to resources across the university. From there, students can be connected with services addressing financial aid, mental and physical health, housing, crisis support, and other needs.

Removing the friction: The hub employs about 20 student workers, who receive training in trauma-informed intake through Temple’s health center and residence life teams, Accavallo said. The training is intended to ensure students can ask for assistance without feeling stigmatized when they enter the space.

“Everybody matters in that space, and that’s why it’s not just a food pantry, it’s not just a place to get clothing, but you can ask questions in a variety of different ways,” Accavallo said. “The ethos of care matters and giving every person dignity matters because we’ve all had to have help one way or another.”

Accavallo said Temple plans to track student retention and persistence as measures of whether the hub is helping students access the support they need to, ultimately, stay enrolled.

Accavallo said Fry’s emphasis on student success as an institutional priority has also shaped the university’s approach to the hub.

“One of the things that he said to me is ‘Jodi, find the friction and remove it. Move quickly, move thoughtfully, and get our students to where they need to go,’ and that’s really why we’ve been able to move forward,” Accavallo said.

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