SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — In the bustling heart of Springfield, a city grappling with significant poverty and designated food deserts, Springfield Technical Community College (STCC) stands as a vital artery of opportunity. But for many students, the path to higher education is paved with far more than academic challenges. It’s a journey often complicated by the harsh realities of hunger, housing insecurity, and the emotional toll of navigating life on the margins. Here, at STCC, a groundbreaking program known as the Center for Access Services (CAS) isn’t just offering a helping hand; it’s redefining what it means for a college to truly support its most vulnerable learners. Under the visionary leadership of Director José López-Figueroa, CAS has become a national model for inclusive, dignified support, offering a promising-practice example for K-12 educators and postsecondary institutions alike.
José López-Figueroa’s own journey to leading CAS is deeply rooted in an understanding of the very challenges his students face. With a bachelor’s in criminal justice and psychology, and a master’s in public administration with a nonprofit management concentration, he began his career working with non-traditional and graduate students. When he joined STCC in 2015 as a TRIO academic counselor, he quickly saw beyond the textbooks. “A lot of my TRIO students utilized the Center for Access Services,” he recalls, recognizing the profound impact that non-academic support had on their ability to stay in school. When the CAS director position opened in 2016, it was a natural fit. “Working with students from that perspective, from the non-academic perspective, helping them juggle their personal lives so that they can stay in school, really intrigued me,” López-Figueroa explains. “And it did bring some kind of personal connections as well.”
The origins of CAS trace back to 2014, initially as a collaborative effort called “Single Stop.” The premise was simple: establish “one-stop shop, non-academic support resources” at community colleges. When the initial contract ended in 2016, STCC made a pivotal decision to internalize the program, entrusting Lopez-Figueroa with its re-founding. From a modest start with just himself, a full-time staff member, and a part-timer, CAS has undergone a remarkable transformation. “Fast forward to today, we’ve grown tremendously,” he states proudly. The team now numbers six, including dedicated case managers and a registered dietitian, reflecting the deepening and broadening of their services.
Beyond the Pantry: The Ram Mini Mart Revolution
At the heart of CAS’s innovative approach to combating food insecurity is the Ram Mini Mart. This isn’t your grandmother’s food pantry; it’s a meticulously designed, free convenience store for the entire STCC community – students, faculty, and staff. The goal is simple: eliminate the stigma and barriers often associated with seeking help. “Just today – and we get this very often – we had a student say, ‘Oh, you guys are literally Instacart on campus!'”
The Ram Mini Mart operates with cutting-edge accessibility:
- Online Shopping Platform: “Our services are entirely online. We have a fully live online shopping platform supporting our client choice model.,” López-Figueroa explains. This means ” it is not a guessing game. if it’s in stock, students can select it.”
- 24-Hour Accessible Lockers: A true game-changer, these “temperature-controlled grocery lockers are also 24-hour accessible where students can pick up groceries.” Crucially, we have ” freezer, refrigerated, and ambient/room-temperature lockers,” allowing for diverse food offerings. “The 24-hour access allows students to pick up their groceries at 7am, 7pm or on a Saturday or Sunday.”
- Comprehensive Offerings: Beyond shelf-stable staples, the Mini Mart provides fresh produce sourced from local farms and raw, frozen meat through partnerships with organizations like the Food Bank of Western Mass. Recognizing that federal food assistance doesn’t cover all necessities, CAS also stocks “basic essentials, the non-food essentials: the toilet paper, laundry detergent, diapers, baby wipes, feminine hygiene products.” As López-Figueroa points out, “those things are not covered by food stamps or SNAP, and it adds up… We offer them free of charge as well.”
This commitment to dignity and anonymity is foundational to CAS. “We operate from a perspective of a student’s dignity and autonomy so it’s an anonymous program,” López-Figueroa emphasizes. “We try not to gather too much, essentially removing barriers.” Students can simply sign up for the pantry without extensive interviews, or even request a bag of groceries without identifying themselves. “We’ve had students say, ‘You know, I don’t want my story being recorded. I just need help with groceries,'” he explains. This approach fosters trust and encourages individuals to seek help without fear of judgment. The impact is clear: the Ram Mini Mart processed over 1,500 orders this past academic year, serving nearly 2,000 individuals (including family members), reflecting an 11% average monthly growth in usage.
Confronting the Realities of Poverty: Food and Housing
Springfield, known to have significant food desert issues, particularly in neighborhoods like Mason Square where the STCC campus is located, and its high rates of poverty have historically presented unique challenges for STCC students. “Traditionally, Springfield Technical Community College has always served the underrepresented, low-income population,” López-Figueroa notes. This historical context directly fueled the college’s decision to establish CAS in 2014, aiming to address the struggles of students who might otherwise “fail or drop out of school to work and not having those resources.”
Today, the needs are more acute than ever. “Certainly, with inflation over the years that we’ve seen,” López-Figueroa observes. “Food continues to go up, homelessness is high and rent…the cost of housing is extraordinarily high, resulting in increased homelessness.” He pinpoints food insecurity and housing as ” the trend in the landscape and right now the biggest need.” The dramatic 200% increase in food pantry usage over the past two years is stark evidence of this escalating crisis.
Building Bridges: The Power of the “Warm Hand-Off”
For K-12 McKinney-Vento liaisons and other professionals supporting vulnerable youth, CAS offers a powerful blueprint for preparing students for postsecondary success. López-Figueroa champions relationship building and the concept of the “warm hand-off.”
“Make the relationship. Try to keep a strong relationship with them,” he advises K-12 colleagues, referring to local liaisons. “We’re here to build a team. We’re going to work together.” STCC actively partners with local high schools through “pathways and acceptance days,” even busing students to campus to familiarize them with the environment.
The emotional component for students transitioning from high school is paramount. “There’s a large population there that is unfortunately underserved,” López-Figueroa explains. “Unfortunately, this population has experienced a lot of failure and disappointment and let downs. And so, they’re sensitive to that.” He likens these setbacks to “a physical wound.” For many young people, “they may feel that they may not be able to handle yet another wound, another injury, so they will stay clear and then they will stay away in fear of rejection.”
This is where the warm hand-off becomes transformative. “I have a good relationship with them,” he says of local McKinney-Vento liaisons. “They connect me with their students, telling the student, ‘Hey, this is Jose. He’s my friend at STCC.’ And that warm hand-off happens. It really makes a difference in that student’s confidence and in their motivation to continue on.” It assuages the “fear of the unknown” that comes with leaving the familiar high school environment. “But I now have a person there,” he articulates, “I have a SPOC, I have a friend there that I can go to.” These strong, strategic relationships are “really key… that really impact students’ decisions to continue, but then also to stay and persist semester to semester.”
A Web of Support: Community Partnerships and Sustained Funding
The robust services offered by CAS are a testament to strategic community partnerships and successful grant acquisition. One significant ally is Stop & Shop Supermarkets. “We partner with them and they’ve been funding us over the past five years, going into our sixth year now,” says López-Figueroa. What started as small, spontaneous donations quickly escalated to a five-year, $50,000 commitment. “They committed to us for five years at ten grand a year.” That commitment has since been surpassed, with Stop & Shop awarding CAS $12,500 and then $15,000 in subsequent years, totaling $72,500 over the past six years. This partnership goes beyond funding, with Stop & Shop actively involved, recognizing CAS at a local hockey game and generating positive news coverage.
Other critical partners include:
- The Food Bank of Western Mass: Not just a source for bulk food, but also offering SNAP application assistance to our students right on-campus.
- Gardening the Community and the Springfield Food Policy Council: Local initiatives providing fresh, donated produce from farms, including “fifty or so turkeys locally farmed and harvested” last Thanksgiving.
- Wellsprings Community Harvest: Their “Go Fresh Mobile Market,” a “farmer’s market on the go,” visits weekly, offering produce and providing CAS with discounted coupons that make the offerings free to students.
- The Caring Health Center: Offers on-campus assistance with health insurance applications.
- Department of Higher Education and Community Foundation of Western Mass: These organizations have awarded CAS significant grants, with over $350,000 from the MA Department of Higher Education in the past two years alone contributing to the food pantry’s growth, and emergency funds from the Community Foundation of Western Mass aiding students through unforeseen financial hardships.
Innovative Outreach and the Challenges of Compassion Fatigue
CAS’s success isn’t just in its services, but in its ability to reach students. “A year or so ago, I decided to take our brochure and turn it into a notebook,” López-Figueroa shares, a simple yet brilliant marketing tactic. “Every single student is going to want and need a notebook.” These notebooks, along with keychains featuring QR codes, serve as constant, tangible reminders of CAS, encouraging curious students to scan and explore. Pop-up “Coffee with CAS” and “Pizza with CAS” events, syllabus inclusions, classroom presentations, and integration into new student orientation further ensure broad awareness.
Despite the triumphs, the work at CAS is profoundly demanding. “The biggest challenge is funding specifically for staff,” López-Figueroa admits. While grants have generously funded programs and physical infrastructure like the lockers, “a lot of the grants are exclusive to programmatic needs outside of staffing.” This means that even with a robust program, sustaining the human personnel to run the program is a constant struggle.
“We are essentially a social work agency on campus,” he explains, detailing the intensity of the case management work. “We’re dealing with students that may be suffering from domestic violence, students who are literally sleeping in a place that’s not meant for human habitation, in a shelter, in a car, and/or couch surfing.” This non-academic support is “extremely heavy and it’s time consuming.” A single student’s complex needs can “consume your entire day,” between providing emotional space and gathering vital resources. With 50% of his staff working part-time, managing the sheer volume of cases (nearly 450 cases this past year, with the team spending 30 hours a week on direct case management) becomes a formidable task.
This emotional labor leads López-Figueroa to a crucial, often overlooked, aspect of the work: self-care. “This line of work, there has to be a lot of self-care,” he states. ” Burnout is real, and it happens.” Constantly “meeting with multiple students a day and listening to the challenges and complexities, whether it’s homelessness, domestic violence, or hunger,” takes a heavy toll. “As human beings, it’s heavy on our hearts. And so, in this line of work, it can be very emotional.” He strongly encourages colleagues to prioritize self-care, acknowledging the challenge of “consistently hearing sad stories and trying to come up with a happy ending, which is challenging. It’s very difficult.”
His involvement with NAEHCY’s Postsecondary Committee offers a lifeline. “I feel like I get that through the Postsecondary Committee and connecting with Lisa [Jackson] and everyone,” he says, describing it as “a nice somewhat of a support group as well.” López-Figueroa hopes to present at the upcoming NAEHCY conference, not just to highlight CAS’s successes, but to share these lessons on building comprehensive support systems and advocating for the necessary resources, including full-time staffing, that empower institutions to truly serve their most vulnerable populations. In the tireless work of CAS, STCC is not just educating; it’s healing, uplifting, and building pathways to brighter futures.