Everyone belongs at the Basic Needs Center and everyone has a contribution they can bring to community. Students come to the BNC for resources and support developing their basic needs strategies and as a place to build connection, to pitch in and build a world that works for all. 

Our stakeholders are varied; we need everyone to know they can be a part of our community. 

Our students are those who might be one or more of the following:

  • Pell-eligible 
  • First-Generation college students
  • Former-Foster Youth
  • TRiO or EOP participants
  • Undocumented, DACA or under-resourced international students
  • Homeless, houseless or otherwise experiencing housing stress
  • Participants of the Supplemental Nutrition Educaton Program, the Oregon Health Plan or other government programs designed to support those with limited incomes
  • Experiencing situational poverty
  • Prior recipients of the Free/Reduced Lunch program or other social safety net programs
  • Transfer students 

 

Our Mission Statement: 

We are a meaningful contribution to the basic needs of the Oregon State community. 

 

Our history: 

The Human Services Resource Center, now the Basic Needs Center, was first proposed by two students as the financial crisis began to hit Oregon in roughly 2008. Our first program, started in 2000, pre-dates the formal proposal and was a subsidy for a group of students required to purchase health insurance (this program was discontinued in 2016). As the campus-based food pantry and Mealbux took shape, administrators and student leaders began to formally adopt the vision of a one-stop office, with a suite of supportive resources for homeless and food-insecure students. The program changed its name to become the Basic Needs Center in Spring of 2022.