Rutgers’ new Basic Needs Center shines a light on student poverty hiding in plain sight

🔴 Struggling Rutgers students can now access basic needs at a new campus center

🔴 The Basic Needs Center offers food, clothes, textbooks, and more

🔴 The center opened in January

NEW BRUNSWICK — New this year on the campus of Rutgers University is the Basic Needs Center.

It is a center designed to support students who are facing challenges accessing basic everyday needs like food, housing, clothing, childcare, transportation, mental health services, and financial resources, says Phillip Smith, assistant dean for student basic needs.

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Having opened in January, the Basic Needs Center, located inside the College Avenue Student Center, is only available to current Rutgers students.

What services are provided?

With its food pantry, the Basic Needs Center is serving over 1,300 students per month, Smith said.

Besides food, there is a clothing closet available filled with professional and casual clothes.

There is also a textbook assistance program. “Students can check out a textbook that we might have in our library to be able to use for the semester for free,” Smith said.

There are also computers, tablets, and scientific calculators that students can check out either for the semester or on an as-needed basis.

The center also features an area with household items available. If a student finds themselves homeless and needs to get an apartment, rather than have to start from scratch, they can go to the center and stock up on things like blankets, silverware, dishes, and more, Smith said.

The mobile option that’s available allows the Basic Needs Center to travel to Rutgers’ other four campuses in the New Brunswick area and bring items to students there.
“In the food pantry itself, we have a freezer section, a refrigerator section, we have non-perishable items, and lots of produce,” Smith said.

Students also have access to personal items every month to help support them, like lotion, shampoo, and tampons.

Life skill courses and basic needs seminars are also available to students. Smith says they connect students to community resources like SNAP Navigator to help them sign up for SNAP benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

The center also features a Basic Needs Box, similar to an Amazon Box. Smith said the center can take online orders, bag up those items, and students can pick up their packages at night or on the weekend, whichever is most convenient for them.

The Response

Smith said many Rutgers University students have taken advantage of the pantry since its inception eight months ago. It allows them to ask for help with dignity.

“Our goal is to make sure that they get to graduation. If this little support helps them, then we’re doing our jobs in the most way,” Smith way.

Donations

All supplies and services are provided to the Basic Needs Center through donations. Students can donate textbooks. Caps and gowns are also collected for those who cannot afford them.

Monetary donations are also accepted to allow staff to purchase items, too.

To donate, please visit the Basic Needs Center website.

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