Press Releases, Student Life

NCC celebrates launch of Single Stop

Nash Community College (NCC), through services offered by Single Stop, is now able to connect students to financial resources and services and help eliminate non-academic barriers to academic success, such as lack of adequate housing, child care, and health insurance. As a result, the College hopes to increase student retention and graduation rates. Single Stop builds the capacity of its partner colleges, weaving the program into the financial aid and student services offices of community colleges to foster easy access. Nash Community College is among the first three Single Stop sites in North Carolina. Others include Central Piedmont Community College and Wake Technical Community College. Nash Community College opened its Single Stop site on October 26, 2015 with the office located in the Student Wellness Center.

Single Stop, a national non-profit organization, received a generous grant from the John M. Belk Endowment to bring its model to North Carolina. The partnership aims to connect thousands of low-income North Carolinians to millions of dollars in critical resources and services over the course of three years with a cutting edge program focusing on community college students, veterans and their families. “Single Stop is grateful to partner with the John M. Belk Endowment to provide cutting-edge services to thousands of North Carolinians,” Single Stop State Director for North Carolina Sarah Crawford said. “Students will be able to receive the life-changing benefits and services that help them stay in college.”

Single Stop harnesses America’s most effective anti-poverty tools to create economic mobility for low income families and individuals. “Nash Community College and Single Stop share a common goal: to empower students with the best opportunity possible to acquire a post-secondary education and self-sufficiency upon graduation,” said Marbeth Holmes, Nash Community College’s clinical outreach counselor. Holmes serves as Single Stop’s site lead on campus. “We are appreciative for the Belk Foundation providing funding for Single Stop and honored to be one of the community colleges to offer Single Stop in North Carolina.”

Through a unique one-stop shop, Single Stop provides coordinated access to a safety net worth $750 billion and services provided by thousands of nonprofits—connecting people to the resources they need to attain higher education, obtain good jobs, and achieve financial self-sufficiency. Since spinning off from Robin Hood in 2007, Single Stop’s outreach and capacity have grown dramatically. Single Stop has connected over one million households in eight states to nearly $3 billion of resources and services. To achieve this, Single Stop provides community-based organizations and community colleges with training, evaluation, program support, change management consulting, and proprietary technology. These tools empower sites to provide low income families and individuals with wraparound services that include benefits screening, application assistance, case management, tax preparation, and legal and financial counseling.
Through the NCC Student Wellness Center with clinical outreach counseling, NCC connects students with qualified professionals and community resources who can offer support. The Center’s scope of services includes Single Stop services, screening and assessment, crisis intervention, personal counseling, support groups, referral services for chronic care, psycho-education, cognitive-behavioral therapy, interpersonal therapy and more. Holmes is trained to provide assistance to special populations in need of therapeutic support groups such as veterans, single mothers, survivors of trauma and domestic violence, drug abusers and others. College resources that also provide assistance to students include: the Student Government Association, MALE mentoring program, the Library, a SGA Food Pantry, and Success Closet (professional attire for students needing clothing for job interviews).
For more information about Single Stop, visit www.singlestop.org or call 252.428.7334.