Goucher College becomes new home for the Student Support Network

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.