Goucher College Becomes New Home For The Student Support Network

Press release from Goucher College:

July 22, 2020

Goucher College has become the new home for the Student Support Network, a local nonprofit
organization dedicated to fighting Baltimore County children’s food insecurity. The
partnership deepens Goucher’s involvement in the Baltimore community and strengthens
its commitment to service and social justice.

The mission of the Student Support Network is to improve the lives of Baltimore County
students living in poverty by providing food, other basic necessities, and advocacy
support. With nearly 50,000 children in Baltimore County affected by food insecurity,
the Network partners with local schools to impact those students’ daily needs directly.

"The Student Support Network is doing the hard work of supporting underserved students
here in Baltimore County,” said Goucher College President Kent Devereaux. “This partnership
builds on the thriving experiential learning opportunities that our students participate
in with community partners throughout Baltimore. Offering a home to this tremendous
organization is another way that Goucher can contribute to building a stronger Baltimore
and foster additional community engagement amongst our students, faculty, and staff."

Goucher has a long-standing relationship with the Network and other area nonprofit
organizations. Through Goucher’s Community-Based Learning (CBL) program, the College
combines hands-on work in the community and volunteer experiences to offer students
transformational learning opportunities. Goucher has partnered previously with the
Network to provide volunteers and host food and clothing collection drives. Several
Goucher faculty members have also collaborated with the Network in the past, including
Associate Professor Phong Le. Le developed a unique data analytics course where his
students surveyed and analyzed food accessibility in Baltimore County and provided
the Network with that data analysis to further their advocacy efforts.

“We are absolutely thrilled with the space so generously provided by Goucher College
to the Student Support Network,” said Student Support Network President Laurie Taylor-Mitchell.
“We hope that our presence on the Goucher campus will create additional opportunities
for students to volunteer and to learn about issues related to poverty and hunger
in Baltimore County.”

The Student Support Network will use its new space to store items donated to its ten
Network schools, as well as for sorting and bagging donations to be distributed, including
non-perishable food, school supplies, and health care kits. For more information on
The Student Support Network and how to get involved, please visit www.studentsupportnetwork.org.

This press release was produced by Goucher College. The views expressed here are the author’s own.