Meeting the Wolfpack’s Essential Needs

When Hurricane Helene hit Western North Carolina, Pack Essentials program director Stevie Kimmet saw a surge in applications for aid from students whose families were suddenly faced with unexpected hardship. 

“We talked with dozens of students who shared concerns like, ‘I have to drop out because I need to go to Western North Carolina and take care of my family,’” said Kimmet.

Kimmet and the Pack Essentials team reached out to each student applicant to help find solutions. Later, in an anonymous feedback survey the program sent out, one of the students affected by Hurricane Helene commented on how the program connected them with local resources in Raleigh — which provided a way for them to support their family from a distance. “It relieved a lot of stress,” they wrote.

Pack Essentials aids students experiencing insecurities in basic needs, such as food, housing and health. However, the program does much more, finding solutions to help students navigate hardship or overcome barriers, so that they don’t have to interrupt their university education. 

“Pack Essentials is intentionally this amorphous entity. We have built our system and our infrastructure around being as low-barrier and as responsive to students’ needs as possible,” Kimmet said.

The application can be filled out in two minutes or less. The Pack Essentials team monitors submissions seven days a week and will make phone calls to students within one business day.

“We have personalized conversations about what a student needs because that student who needed rent might also be having issues with a landlord,” said Kimmet. “So we want to make sure that they know that they pay fees to the university that include student legal services.”

By connecting students to services on campus or in the local community, Pack Essentials also aims to help students gain awareness of what they are entitled to and how to advocate more confidently for themselves and, ultimately, their communities.

“I love it when students feel comfortable enough to ask questions on a call,” said April Davidson, an intern for Pack Essentials. Davidson, a second-year student in the Master of Social Work program, is often busy calling students after they complete the application for assistance. 

“If they have questions about why they did or did not receive a resource, we can explain it,” Davidson said. “They’re learning how to navigate these systems, and it will help them when they graduate and leave NC State.” 

Recently, Pack Essentials provided assistance to a student who unexpectedly became a caretaker for their younger siblings, helping them pay a utility bill to heat their home. For students facing homelessness or forced to live in their cars, the team has coordinated with local partners to secure emergency housing or find host families.

International students have also found caring support when disruptive events have occurred in their home countries, such as political unrest or natural disasters.

“Last year in Bangladesh, students who were relying on support from back home no longer had it if their families were fleeing political persecution, or, for example, the floods in Pakistan years ago. Whatever it is, we respond to those things.”

Kimmet wants Pack Essentials to remain nimble in the assistance it can offer students, because hardship and barriers can make everyday tasks or needs challenging.

“Sometimes they need a haircut. They might need meal shares in the dining hall. We also have free bikes that we distribute. If you need transportation, we’ve got something for you,” said Kimmet.

“We pride ourselves on trying to be ever-developing experts on the resources that are available.”

Supplying Dignity and Delight 

The NC State Food, Housing, and Security Steering Committee has collaborated with Pack Essentials to produce a study on basic needs among NC State students every three years since 2017. Each study has shown an increase near 8% in the rates of food insecurity. In 2017, 15% of NC State students reported experiencing food insecurity, and by 2020 — at the height of the pandemic — that number had increased to 23%.

In the most recent 2023 study, 30% of NC State students reported experiencing food insecurity.

“So the rates post-pandemic are not slowing. They’re not abating in any way. And, I would say it’s probably underreported, because the measures don’t capture every experience with food insecurity, and it’s stigmatized,” said Kimmet, who, in addition to running Pack Essentials, is a doctoral candidate in sociology examining the causes and consequences of inequalities in education.  

Under the larger umbrella of Pack Essentials is the Feed the Pack Food Pantry, which helps to combat hunger and food insecurity on campus.

Up to 95% of the students surveyed reported that the pantry makes them less food insecure and better able to afford rent and utilities. “Using the pantry … allows them to focus on being a student, and improves their wellness overall,” Kimmet said.

“There’s real impact in what we’re doing.”

The Feed the Pack Food Pantry, located on the first floor of North Hall, stocks shelf-stable items such as pasta, rice and canned goods — as well as local produce provided by Raleigh City Farm. It’s a place where you can find fresh dairy items, meat, chicken, tofu, baked and prepared goods, personal hygiene products and much more. You can even get a whole birthday cake for yourself or someone else. 

“It’s completely free and straightforward,” said Kimmet. “You come to North Hall. You bring your NC State ID. You swipe in. You shop.” Whereas Pack Essentials is available only to students, the Feed the Pack Pantry is also accessible to faculty and staff.

And while combating food insecurity is serious business, the Feed the Pack Food Pantry feels like a small, local grocer with a warm and inviting atmosphere.

I think it speaks to the experience of human dignity when you can go in and get things that just delight you. Not just things that meet your baseline needs.

“It’s a vibrant space. Students are playing music in there, and we’re having fun. I literally have to kick people out at the end of the day, because people love being there.”

In survey feedback, students expressed their appreciation for how the food pantry goes beyond meeting their basic needs.

“One of the things that I loved reading in that survey was how many students were like, ‘I love that I can come in and get flowers,’” Kimmet said. In partnership with Pack Essentials, a nonprofit organization called Flower Shuttle donates recovered bouquets and potted plants.

“I think it speaks to the experience of human dignity when you can go in and get things that just delight you,” Kimmet said. “Not just things that meet your baseline needs.”

“You’re a person, and you deserve nice things. Not just essential things, but nice things.”