Matilyn Mortensen:
Welcome to Making Utah, the official podcast of the University of Utah. Here, we share stories of discovery, creativity and connection that shape campus and our state for the future. I'm Matilyn Mortensen and you are listening to U for You, the student-facing podcast where we explore stories, tips and resources to help you make the most of your college experience.

Hello, Martha Hernandez. I'm so excited to be here with you today. I know you're the Basic Needs Collective Manager and I'm really excited for you to tell students more about what your collective offers to campus. Do you mind starting by introducing yourself, your position and the Basic Needs Collective?

Martha Hernandez:
Yeah, thank you so much for having me. My name is Martha Hernandez and I use she, her and ella pronouns. I am the Basic Needs Collective manager. And I would love to talk more about what we do, what we offer and how students can connect with us. I would like to start off by sharing that the Basic Needs Collective has officially transitioned to be managed by the Center for Campus Wellness. And that said, our office space will remain in the Union basement right below the food court. Our mission is to support student success and wellbeing by educating and connecting students with campus and community resources to help meet their basic needs. Basic needs are the essential things that students need to live well and feel their best. They're the building blocks that help students focus on school, work and life without the extra stress.

Matilyn Mortensen:
That is really lovely. And I think what a wonderful thing to recognize that if you're going to succeed, there are needs that all of us have to have taken care of. Can you tell me what needs that your center has identified and is focusing on as those foundational needs for students?

Martha Hernandez:
Absolutely. So when it comes to resources, we can help connect students with food, housing, healthcare, transportation, clothing and really a variety of resources. I think altogether in our database, we have 600 plus resources, either available on campus or in the greater community.

Matilyn Mortensen:
And how long has the Basic Needs Collective been around and doing this work of helping students have those foundational needs taken care of?

Martha Hernandez:
The Basic Needs Collective has been around since 2022 as a physical space on campus. Prior to that, there were efforts by different campus partners and different offices to start the conversations about meeting students' basic needs. And while it wasn't called the Basic Needs Collective back then, those conversations were crucial in setting the foundations for what is now the Basic Needs Collective.

Matilyn Mortensen:
So if a student is looking for resources and they're coming to your center, can you tell me a little bit about what that process looks like, maybe how they first get in touch, what it's like when they walk in the door and how your collective helps them through the process?

Martha Hernandez:
Absolutely. So we offer appointments in person and virtually by scheduling or by drop-in. Typically, appointments last about 45 minutes, more or less, depending on the number of resources that students would like to explore. When students walk through the door, we start by greeting them. We may offer them a warm beverage, maybe a snack and then we dive into some questions. The point is to understand the students' unique needs and make sure that we find the most appropriate and available resources to connect them with.

Matilyn Mortensen:
In your experience as the manager, I'm curious if you have any resources that you find unexpected or any favorite resources that you are excited to connect students with. I'm sure there's lots of resources you help students access that they've probably heard of before. And I know that help is crucial, but I think in a position like yours, it must be really cool to be like, "Oh, my gosh, there's actually something for that that you wouldn't have expected."

Martha Hernandez:
Yeah, absolutely. My favorite resource is the Peer Wellbeing Navigation Program. This program provides peer-to-peer support and can help students with scheduling appointments, exploring campus resources and staying on track with their goals. Altogether, the vision here, the goal is to connect students with a peer wellbeing navigator after they meet with myself or my colleague, Keaton, in the Basic Needs Collective for more continuous support. And I think that's a really cool resource because navigating resources on campus, scheduling appointments can get a little bit tricky considering work schedules, school schedules and everything in between that.

Matilyn Mortensen:
I really love that that is a program done with peers. That feels very empowering to me to see peers being that support person. And I also feel like just that companionship alone can sometimes be a really good resource for people. Can you tell me maybe what you observe when a student comes to your center and is paired with that Peer Wellbeing Navigation partner, what are the outcomes for the students that are seeking resources from having that partnership and support?

Martha Hernandez:
What we have seen so far is that students have someone that they can check in with regularly who has more availability than, perhaps, myself and my colleague do. They have access to someone who can answer quick questions, who can, perhaps, direct them in the right direction if they have additional questions. We are very thorough during appointments. It's almost impossible to catch everything. So when there are additional questions, I think it's wonderful to have a peer that you can connect with and just check in with. In addition to that, I think it's also wonderful that students have the opportunity to connect with a peer who has been attending the University of Utah for a little while who has lived experience, firsthand experience navigating the University of Utah. And it can definitely help with those feelings of maybe isolation or loneliness that can happen when we're navigating such a large campus like the U.

Matilyn Mortensen:
And then so you're now officially a part of the Center for Campus Wellness and that seems like a very exciting maybe marker of growth. And I'm just curious how the idea of wellness really fits into your work being under that umbrella, how it really shapes the way you're approaching what you do for students.

Martha Hernandez:
Absolutely. Great question. I think wellness, it's very closely tied to basic needs. When it comes to basic needs, I think a lot of the resources that we are connecting students with, including housing and food and maybe exploring options for healthcare, whether it's low cost or affordable options, or maybe exploring health insurance options, that is directly tied to wellness, whether it's physical wellness, mental wellbeing, you name it. It's very intertwined. I think it's very tied to the work that we do with basic needs.

Matilyn Mortensen:
And you mentioned the peer wellbeing navigators. I am curious what are other ways students could be involved with the Basic Needs Collective. I think something that I really love about your model is that I feel like it recognizes that we all have needs. No matter what needs we have, we all have something to give. And so I love that it would be possible for a student to come in there and access resources for themselves, but be able to contribute to the center in another way and that just feels very empowering to me. And I'd love to know what are other ways students can get involved if they are wanting to also pass on that support to their peers.

Martha Hernandez:
One way to get involved with the Basic Needs Collective is if students ever have any items that they're looking to donate, our thrift store is cost-free and available to the campus community. So we are receiving donations. That would be a great way to contribute. Another way is just stopping by saying a quick hello, connecting with myself and the rest of the BNC team would also be wonderful. Another option is to follow our Instagram account. So on there we post about any upcoming events and offerings. One of those includes the Adulting 101 Program, which is open to students and it's meant to provide a sense of community and belonging while they get to learn about different skills pertaining to financial wellness, relationship wellness and stress care. Another way is to maybe keep an eye out and see when the next opportunity comes up to help us assemble hygiene kits. So what we do is we gather volunteers, we put together hygiene kits and we make them available through the thrift shop as well as our satellite pantry, which is located in the Eccles Health Sciences Education Building.

Matilyn Mortensen:
Thank you so much for sharing all those ideas. I love that this is a place where students can not only come to get those needs met, that you listen, but also find ways to build community with one another. As we wrap up our conversation, is there anything that you'd like to add that we haven't had a chance to talk about?

Martha Hernandez:
I would highly encourage students to connect with us, even if they don't have any pressing questions. I think building a sense of community on campus can go a long way. So connecting with us, the center, with our student staff and just getting to know what is available before they maybe have a need would be a wonderful way to be proactive, be prepared and also maybe support their peers. Sometimes we might not be the ones who have a need to learn about resources, but maybe we know someone who could benefit from learning about that.

Matilyn Mortensen:
Yeah. And what a powerful thing to be able to do for someone you care about is say, "Hold on, I know where we can get some help. I know where we can figure things out." And then I also just think to your point, knowing about resources before you need them is so helpful. And sometimes taking the effort to learn about the resources can also prevent the feeling like you're in crisis because you're able to be proactive.

Martha Hernandez:
Absolutely. We understand that life happens and things just come up suddenly sometimes, but I think if there's the opportunity to connect and learn more about what we have to offer at the U, I would highly recommend that.

Matilyn Mortensen:
I'm going to put your Instagram and your website in the show notes so it's really easy for everyone to find. Thank you so much for joining me today. It was really lovely to talk to you.

Martha Hernandez:
Thank you for having me.

Matilyn Mortensen:
Thanks for listening to Making Utah. Subscribe wherever you get your podcast and stay connected with us on attheu.utah.edu.