Narrator 0:08
You're listening to the Spartan orientation station on Impact 89 FM, the podcasts by students for students. Now, this week's episode.
Ali 0:18
Alrighty, welcome back to the Spartan Orientation Station. In this episode, we discuss the Student Parent Resource Center, or SPRC for short. The SPRC strives to support and uplift student parents and their families. To do so, the SPRC provides vital services to student parents such as assistance with academics and finances, as well as on campus space for them to connect with other families. My name is Ali Cramer, I'm a recently graduated senior who studied neuroscience with minors in computational math, science and engineering and Pharmacology and Toxicology.
Abigail 0:54
Hello, I'm Abigail, I'm a rising senior here with a major in social work with a minor in justice, law and public policy. And we're joined by Lorraine Walton, the administrative assistant for the SPRC to learn more about how they support Spartan parents, thank you so much for joining us today.
Lorraine 1:13
Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Abigail 1:16
And could you begin by just introducing yourself and explaining what your role here is at MSU?
Lorraine 1:22
Again, my name is Lorraine Walton, and I work in the Student Parent Resource Center. I've been on campus for about 20, almost 23 years now. And started working with the student parents in 2015, when it was the Family Resource Center out of the Nisbet Building. And in 2016, they created the Student Parent Resource Center, and I decided to stay with the students. And so, what I do with the students is provide mentorship, programming, family fun activities. It's a lot of things, resources, referrals, we are all things student parents, or should I say parenting students.
Ali 2:07
Awesome. So, you talked a little bit about what the Student Parent Resource Center is. But could you go into a little bit more detail about like specific resources that you provide?
Lorraine 2:17
Sure. So, the Student Parent Resource Center has a grant that we received from the federal government and the acronyms is C—CAMPUS, and that means Childcare Access Means Parents in School. And it's a--we get a little over a million dollars a year to provide childcare support for students that are income eligible. All undergrad Pell Grant eligible students are eligible for the grant. But also, graduate students and international students that are income eligible can also use it. The way we do the grant is we give them 1200 hours per child, a free childcare. And we prepay our providers for those spaces so that those spaces are held for specifically for our students, so that when they come, we can provide space for them at childcare centers and home-based care. With that grant, we also do before and after school care, as well as provide some summer camp support. We've had that grant probably since the early, late, maybe late 90s. And so, it's something that we continuously apply for. And MSU is really good at getting it. And so, we support our students that way. We also get donations from the community. MSU community support for our student parents or parenting students is phenomenal. They support our students in many, many ways. One way is a program that I run, called the Holiday Gift Program. And what that program is, is I match student parents with departments on campus, and they provide gifts for the families for the holidays. And so, I've had the pleasure and the privilege of going to some of those departments and helping students retrieve gifts. And when I tell you that two people couldn't fit in the car, because departments have put so much love poured so much love into those student families. It's amazing how much support the campus community and we have a few outside community members that support that program, as well.
Ali 4:30
Awesome. So I guess just a follow up, then if students know that, you know, they're interested in utilizing these resources for the upcoming school year, is that something they should get in contact with your office now or is that something that they can, you know, can wait closer to the school year to start doing?
Lorraine 4:48
No, absolutely. So, if you're even thinking about coming to MSU and you have a child and you want to learn about the resources and programmings that we do to support you, you definitely can reach out to us even before you become a student here. But definitely, if you are a parenting student at MSU, please reach out to our office to see what supports that we can offer you.
Abigail 5:12
Awesome, and I guess going along with that, too, are there any financial resources such as scholarships and aid for student parents that you guys offer or can connect them to.
Lorraine 5:25
So student parents have a registered student organization, acronym SPOM. And that stands for Student Parents On a Mission. And there's a scholarship with that, that they can apply for. There's also the Christine Carter Lease Scholarship that they can apply for. Christine Carter was a student parent here at MSU. She's now an employee here, and she created an endowment. And so that money is available for parenting students to apply for. There's also an SOS emergency fund that's available to all students, but student parents can also apply for that through the university for housing insecurity, financial issues, rent, food, utilities, things like that, that you're behind in, that you need maybe just a little extra help. There's an SOS fund that the university has that supports students in that way too.
Abigail 6:18
Yeah, just I that's there are just so many great resources like the community provides and just so many people, like you said, all that love that comes together for those families, parents, children, whoever and what they need, you guys can give that to them and make those connections for them.
Lorraine 6:35
Absolutely. Absolutely. We work with the entire family, not just the parent, that's a student. But if you have your spouse here or your children here, we definitely cater to the entire family.
Abigail 6:46
Right.
Lorraine 6:47
And so that is our goal at the Student Parent Resource Center. It's a Two Generational approach. You know, you bring your kids here to the campus, and they become students along with you. You know, a lot of the parents study with their kids, bring their kids up. In the apartments here, come you know, they go to school in East Lansing, or the Lansing community. We have some parents that have graduated whose children are now students at MSU. And so we continue to work with those students and reach out to those students and provide supports as needed to students even beyond graduation.
Ali 7:25
Perfect. And so I guess, kind of jumping a little bit into like the housing. Could you talk a little bit about the housing options that are available for families here at MSU?
Lorraine 7:35
Yeah, so 1855 family housing is what MSU offers our student parents. And there's some that are still housed in Spartan Village, there are one- and two-bedroom options there. But you'd have to get on the waitlist pretty early. Because, you know, for all the students that are parents on this campus, it's still a small, you know, amount of rooms. So a lot of our parenting students live off campus.
Abigail 8:04
Yeah. And so, are there any clubs or RSOs that are available for student parents to join?
Lorraine 8:11
Yeah, so that would be SPOM, the registration organization SPOM. A little bit more about SPOM, SPOM was created in 1994 by LaRonda Brown-Chastang, she was a student here who brought her young child and realized there was not much for her to do. Campus really didn't provide any activities for her to do with her child. And so SPOM was born. There is a membership for SPOM. It's $15 for the semester, or $25 for the year, but that covers your entire family. And so, every month, we try to do a family fun activity. So, we may go to Chuck E Cheese, or we may go bowling, or roller skating or tubing, or, you know, take them to the waterpark. And so, once you pay that dues, you don't pay for anything for yourself or your family. So those dues pay for those. And we also do a lot of fundraising to help keep that pot of funds up enough that we can still continue to support our families with their family fun activities and programming.
Ali 9:13
Yeah, no, I was reading about that earlier on the on the website. And it's such a cool story. It's so great that, you know, even someone who came to MSU decades ago is still able to have such a lasting impact on the community. I think that's just a testament to like, what you were saying just like the care and the love that people have, especially within the Student Parent Resource Center.
Lorraine –9:37
Yeah, I think so. All of the staff that I've worked with those that are here, my--the director of the Student Parent Resource Center, Kimberly Steed-Paige, the previous coordinator, Laurie Strum. My predecessor Leanne, we all had the same passion and have the same passion for working with student parents, this is a position that doesn't really pay a lot. And so, you to be in this position and to stay in this position, you have to love what you do. And that's the why I'm still here. I love working with our students, I love brand new babies, I love the kids and they come into our office, and you know, they smile and, you know, bring us little gifts and flowers and--
Abigail 10:25
All the little Spartans.,
Lorraine 10:26
All the little Spartans, they color us pictures. And, you know, they just tell us that they're thankful for us. And that that alone is a huge difference in why I'm still here.
Ali –10:39
Yeah. So, you talked a little bit about your team and your purpose, could you tell us a little bit about where your office is located in case people want to visit you in person.
Lorraine –10:49
Currently, we're located in the University Village Community Center, and room 107. It’s 1199, Garden City Road. So, our office sits right next to the 1855 family housing, so they have easy access to us. A lot of our students will come--we do, we have a diaper drive. And so, we have diapers at our office, we've teamed up with a community supporter who also supplies us with diapers and baby needs. And so, if you are a student parent, if you are in need of diapers, you can come and see us, because we also have those available for you as well.
Abigail –11:31
Yeah, that's a really awesome resource. And like you said, maybe not everyone knows about that. So that's a really important thing. And I guess kind of the last thing you kind of touched on how rewarding it is for you, just like you said, connecting with those families in the community. And I guess if there's anything to add to that, what are some other favorite parts of your job and position that you like working with students and just being a Spartan?
Lorraine 11:58
Well, I have a story. One of the amazing things about my job is that I build really close relationships with our parenting students. I have been in the delivery room and deliver babies of our parenting students. I've been asked, you know, they're in labor, and they call me and “Oh, my God.” And, you know, most of them don't have family here, right. And so, I become the auntie. And so, I've been in the delivery room, and I've delivered babies. I've had students who have gone into surgery, and they call me, “I want you to be there. So, when I come out of surgery, that I know that you're there.” So, I support the students in that way. I have been the emergency contact person for schools. So, the school will call me and say, you know, “the student is sick, and I can't get a hold of the parent, can you come get the child?” And so, I'll go get the child because I'm on the emergency contact list. And I'll notify the parents “hey, your kid is safe. He's in the office with me.” And so when you build relationships like that and have that trust with the students and their children, that's rewarding. Like that is love. And that's passion, and compassion. And you have to have those things when you're in the service industry in the service work, and the human service work. Because that's the first thing that we are, we're human beings. And if we can continue to treat each other as human beings, then the love and passion that you have for what you do, will automatically pour into those that you're working with.
Abigail 13:37
Yeah, that's so amazing. And just it--kindness can go a long way. And that just sounds that just encompasses that position like you're saying that one little bit, you're not only a part in, you know, making everything work and the logistics and connecting families, but you are a part of their family. And so--
Lorraine 14:01
it's beautiful.
Abigail 14:03
Yeah, I agree.
Lorraine 14:04
I still hold--have connections. I've gone to weddings and baby showers. I have students who have moved away, who I go and spend time with during the year. I'll go take a week, they call me and say “Auntie, I need you.” And I'm on a flight to wherever they are. Yes, I do. I spend time with them. And I keep those connections. I've gone to one of the students. Their daughter was an exchange student in Canada. She graduated from Canada. I jumped in the car and went to Canada for her graduation. And so, when I tell you that I'm a part of their family, and they're a part of mine, I mean, like when, when they call me, I come.
Abigail 14:50
I love it.
Ali 14:53
All right, I guess with that, thank you so much for joining us. I think this has been a really powerful episode. So even for students who, you know, are not parenting students, just parents, I think there's definitely some really important life lessons to take away. Hopefully, everyone learns that by coming here even know. If you don't necessarily have a family, you can find people here who really do care about you and who can be a part of your family.
Narrator 15:22
Thank you for listening to this episode of The Spartan Orientation Station on Impact 89 FM. Let us know what you think by connecting with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram at MSU_NSO