Miami Dade College\u2019s North and Wolfson Campuses have brought Single Stop USA into the institution.<\/p>\n
Single Stop USA is a non-profit organization whose main goal is to ensure that households are kept financially stable, so that students can receive a good education. It offers eligible students with free resources such as food stamps, financial counseling, health insurance, legal advice, psychological counseling referrals, and tax preparations.<\/p>\n
A third Campus will be determined in the summer of 2011.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s an important program,\u201d said Mercy Arenas, a Single Stop coordinator at North Campus. \u201cStudents need to take advantage of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fully-operational since the first week of early October, MDC has heard from more than 200 students seeking assistance.<\/p>\n
The program aims to prevent people in economic need from having to go to different government offices, and possibly getting discouraged to complete the application for benefits they are eligible for.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really needed the extra help. They took me through each and every step. I applied for food stamps, and received them,\u201d said Diedre Smikle, an 18-year-old North Campus social work major. \u201cI feel relieved. I had no idea I would have ever qualified. It was very nice to know that these people are there for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Each student takes a screening test given to determine if they are eligible. The questionnaire consists of a series of questions concerning household population and monetary income taking 10-15 minutes.<\/p>\n
The student then sits down with a coordinator to a complete an application that is sent to the Department of Children and Family Services. The application typically take months to process, but through Single Stop, it takes one to four weeks for it to be processed and approved.<\/p>\n
Single Stop Director Barbra Pryor said the main goal of the program is to help end poverty amongst students and boost graduation rates. Single Stop sites, she said, are helping students access an average of $1,500 in benefits and tax refunds.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have appreciated this if I were a student,\u201d Pryor said. \u201cI know students get frustrated with other departments that send them to a million other places, so we try to guide them, instead of having them go through a maze.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to Janet Zoglin, a Miami-based Single Stop consultant, only 31 percent of community college students who set out to earn a degree actually complete it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is about $65 billion of unused funds every year,\u201d said Zoglin. \u201cWe want to make sure they get whatever they can in their hands in order to stay in school.\u201d<\/p>\n
Launched by the Robin Hood Foundation in 2007, Single Stop is stationed at three colleges: The City University of New York, the City College of San Francisco and Miami Dade College.<\/p>\n
According to Zoglin, last year more than $300 million was provided to 120,000 families.<\/p>\n
\u201cStudents that are eligible do not even know it,\u201d Pryor said. \u201cWe want all students to have access to what they truly qualify for and need.\u201d<\/p>\n
J.C. Urbina contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Miami Dade College\u2019s North and Wolfson Campuses have brought Single Stop USA into the institution. Single Stop USA is a non-profit organization whose main goal is to ensure that households are kept financially stable, so that students can receive a good education. It offers eligible students with free resources such as food stamps, financial counseling, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":315,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-7836","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\n