In addition to addressing food insecurity, SNAC benefits the university community by sharing resources to fill basic needs, from advocacy and therapy to child care, and even help finding insurance and housing. We're here to break down barriers and help every Aggie live the most healthy and comfortable life possible.
Advocacy & Therapy for Victims of Interpersonal Violence
- CAPSA is nonprofit domestic violence, sexual abuse, and rape recovery center serving Cache County and the Bear Lake area. They provide support services for women, men, and children impacted by abuse. All of their services are FREE and confidential.
- The Sexual Assault & Anti-Violence Information Office (SAAVI) is a campus-based office providing trauma-informed, confidential counseling, advocacy, and information to the USU community. SAAVI's services are FREE for USU students, staff, and faculty across the statewide system who experience or know someone who has experienced any form of violence.
- The Family Place provides therapy services, education services, and a place for children to stay when caregivers need extra support. In addition, they provide Mental Health First Aid, parenting courses, and education.
Child Care Assistance
- Care About Childcare help parents find childcare in the community.
- Child Care Access Means Parents In School (CCAMPIS) provides funding to eligible USU students to help pay for childcare while they are in class. CCAMPIS does not offer childcare, but they have a list of providers who work with the CCAMPIS program.
- Bear River Head Start is committed to providing opportunities for education and growth to children, families, staff, and the community in a nurturing and supportive environment. They provide childcare based on income. Their phone number is 435-755-0081.
- The Dolores Doré Eccles Center for Early Care & Education community was created with a shared commitment to children and extends beyond the center doors to include families and the wider USU community. They work in partnership with families to meet their individual needs as they balance school, work, and family. Their program provides opportunities for students and faculty to learn more about early childhood care and education through research and training. Students have priority, though wait times can be longer than expected.
- The Kid's Place & Starfish Children's Center @ The Family Place is a free, temporary program offered to caregivers with children ages 11 and under. Our goal is to provide a safe, caring place for children to stay when caregivers need extra support. We focus on emotions and the needs of children and caregivers. This service is open to all families in our community.
Diaper Assistance
- Little Lamb's mission is to uplift struggling families and foster youth by providing necessary items that no child should have to go without. USU students with children can receive diapers for their children at no cost. You will need your student ID and baby's birth certificate. Their diaper program hours are on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. and Thursdays from 4-7 p.m. They provide drive-up services, no appointment necessary, so all you will need is to pull up to the door, and someone will come out to assist you and get you signed up.
Financial Assistance
- Utah State University's Emergency Hardship Fund provides grants to students who have encouraged circumstances that otherwise cause them to drop out of school.
- The Student Money Management Center helps students assess where they are financially and make plans for where they want to be and what they want to accomplish. They provide free, confidential, one-on-one counseling sessions to USU students.
- Student Financial Support can help make a degree or other credentials financially possible for every qualified USU student. Federal financial aid can be part of a payment plan that may include money saved by the family or student for attending school and scholarships and waivers. Grants, student loans, parent loans, and work-study funds are offered to students who qualify to help increase access to higher education.
Housing Assistance
- USU Housing Resources provides a list of housing resources.
- Housing and Financial Counseling (HFC) follows a national counseling and educational imodel to provide services to Utah and Southern Idaho residents. HFC focuses on empowerment through education in housing and finance and works to promote the dignity of every individual. HFC is a US Department of Housing, and Urban Development-approved housing counseling agency that ioffers pre-and post-purchase educational workshops and individualized counseling. In additionm, they provide rental counseling, budgeting, credit management, and debt reduction.
Governmental Food Assistance
- Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides nutrition benefits to supplement the food budget of needy families to purchase healthy food and move towards self-sufficience.
- Due to additional COVID-19 funding, many students are now eligible. Check your eligibility with mrelief.com
- Applying for this assistance can be completed on your own, or if you are interested in meeting, please email SNAC at snac@usu.edu and the Food Security Program Coordinator will assist you.
- The Women, Infants, and Children program (WIC) is a supplemental nutrition program that helps families learn about healthy eating. This program is for pregnant women or those who have children under the age of 5 who meet these income guidelines.
Immediate Food Assistance
- SNAC's mission is to increase access to nutritious food while educating Aggies about basic needs, resources, and sustainable food practices. Food pantry patrons may receive assistance once per week, no questions asked. This food pantry is primarily for USU students, staff, and facult WITHOUT children.
- The Cache Community Food Pantry's mission is to ensure that no individual in Cache County goes to bed hungry. This food pantry is primarily for community members who are NOT students or students WITH children.
- Utah Families Feeding Families is a Cache Valley Community Facebook Group and manages a few porch pantries in Cache Valley that are available for use 24/7. In addition, if community members have a need, they are invited to ask. Likewise, if they can help, they are encouraged to offer. Utah FFF loves it when community members who have been helped pay it forward when they're able to do so. The organization is built on the knowledge that we all go through difficult times, and as a community, we should be there to help each other.
Health Insurance Assistance
Are you a USU student looking for insurance options? Below is a summary of possibilities determined by the time of the year.
- Between November 1 - December 15, applications are open on healthcare.gov. The Utah Health Policy Project and the Cache Valley Community Health Center can assist you if you need application assistance. Daryl Herrschaft is the Take Care Utah Manager at the Health Policy Project who can assist in Medicaid or ACA enrollment: daryl@healthpolicyproject.org.
- Cache Valley Community Health Center has certified enrollment navigators who can help enroll in the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), Medicaid, or Marketplace insurance. The open enrollment date is usually between November 1 - December 15 and has special enrollment periods. Those are limited times when you can enroll due to a life event, like losing other coverage, getting married, having a baby, or based on your estimate household income.
- USU Student Health Insurance becomes available at the beginning of the fall and spring semesters through firststudent.com. In 2021, the fall enrollment deadline was Sept. 11, and the 2022 spring enrollment deadline was Jan. 14. The deadlines will be similar for the 2022-23 school year. If these deadlines are not met, you or your dependents will not be eligible to enroll again until the start of next Fall unless you experience a "Qualifying Life Event" during the year.
- Other times of the year, a local business called Broadbent Financial can assist you in finding insurance options for you.
Healthcare Assistance
- The Student Health and Wellness Center provides primary medical and mental health services to the USU student body and assists the USU community in the development of life skills necessary to enhance personal wellness.
- Cache Valley Community Health Center provides family practice, pharmacy, dental, OB-GYN, behavioral health, and optical services. They accept most insurance plans, Medicare, Medicaid, CHIP, and offer a sliding fee scale for qualified patients.
- Midtown Clinic offers physicals, treatment for illnesses, immunizations, well-woman care, minor surgery, and family planning. Patients without medical insurance are welcome and will be charged at the time of service on a discount sliding fee scale based on income and family size.