Jennifer's participation as a 2024 California Higher Education Basic Needs Alliance Summit panelist with colleagues from Stanislaus State, CSU Chico and Mt. San Antonio College to discuss CalFresh outreach work at UC Merced. The CHEBNA summit brought together students and leaders from UC, CSU and California community college campuses, along with state and federal government representatives, community-based organizations and advocacy organizations, to inform student service interventions, research and assessment, as well as policy-shaping best practices. Jennifer focused on highlighting inclusionary access to Basic Needs resources and best practices from our campus. Jennifer highlighted many initiatives that she directly contributed to, such as the build out of self-service CalFresh tools/resources on our Basic Needs website.
Jennifer has also gone above and beyond to advocate for and to support our Unodocumented Students. Undocumented Students are not typically eligible for CalFresh - however, members of their household may be eligible. Jennifer suggested tabling at the Monarch Center during Fall 2023 semester to share out Mixed-status Family applications to CalFresh and educate students on how their families may access the resource. Additionally, when Jennifer noticed a defect in the 2024 FAFSA application that created barriers for our Undocumented students and families completing the application - she elevated concerns and documented challenges so that it could be brought to the attention of Financial Aid office and eventually joined the collective voice of other students/families/colleges that reached the governor and UC Office of the President who extended the financial aid application deadline for any student attending a four-year university in California to May 2, 2024.
