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Founded in 1964, Community College of Philadelphia (CCP) is recognized as an esteemed higher education institution throughout the Philadelphia region, supporting tens of thousands of students each year across its Main Campus and three regional centers. Offering more than 100 associate degree and certificate programs, dozens of scholarships and workforce development training, the College continues to strengthen the Philadelphia region while preparing learners for future academic and career success.
Serving students from diverse backgrounds, CCP is committed to meeting learners where they are by connecting students with basic needs support through both internal and external resources. By implementing a Single Stop department, the College has been able to significantly expand its reach across multiple vertices, creating access and opportunity that sets students up for success.
With an annual enrollment of more than 20,000 students, Community College of Philadelphia welcomes every type of learner, ranging from credit and noncredit students, dually enrolled high school students, non-native English speakers, traditional-aged students and adults. The College also works closely with numerous students experiencing housing insecurity or threats of domestic, physical or emotional abuse, many of whom are balancing their education while supporting themselves and children.
Despite building strong partnerships with community and government organizations, and College-wide initiatives like their food pantry, student and educator awareness for internal and external resources remained a persistent challenge. As Belinda Pierce, the College’s Single Stop and Student Care Network Program Director, explained, “A lot of students were not connecting with resources that are vital to meet their basic needs because they didn't know they were qualified, how to go about it, or how to navigate the different systems.” She continued that many students have little knowledge of community and government resources, and “didn't even know the College had Single Stop and the funds to help them meet their emergency basic needs.” After joining CCP and having the Single Stop platform in place, Belinda sought to find a solution that would create heightened awareness and impact.
Since joining Community College of Philadelphia, Belinda has seen a clear shift in the number of students being connected to emergency and everyday basic needs support.
She described the platform as essential in linking students to government benefits and local resources across all ZIP codes. This includes childcare, clothing, food, and emotional and physical health support. As the department also serves as the certifying official for Philadelphia’s County Assistance Office, Single Stop plays a critical role in helping her team meet these responsibilities—boosting productivity and efficiency across the board.
Belinda and her team pride themselves on offering hands-on support, walking students step by step through the benefits application process and identifying additional resources they may have not realized they needed or were eligible for. With Single Stop’s centralized database, the process has become faster and less stressful, allowing students to eliminate worries of locating government offices or being rejected on the spot. With the pre-screening tool, Belinda noted that students can confidently build their resource journey, simply uploading their documents and information to the platform with ease.
As Single Stop has become more integrated into campus life, word has spread across CCP’s students, faculty and staff. Supported by new marketing efforts, Belinda is proud of the community impact this technology has provided, sharing that, “Through collaboration and partnerships, we are really able to impact the students we serve. I couldn’t think of a better way to spend my working hours.”
Belinda shared that throughout her time at CCP, there have been multiple instances where Single Stop has provided students with life changing emergency and everyday resources. One instance that stood out to Belinda was a time when a student's father had suddenly passed away and left her as the executor of his estate. Grappling with grief of this loss, the student was suddenly faced with having to process her late father's tax returns. She turned to the Single Stop office, where Belinda and her team simplified the process, eliminating administrative strain and allowing the student to focus on her emotional healing.
Another instance highlighted a single parent who was a part of the College’s competitive Nursing program. A month before graduation and with a job already lined up, the student realized she was facing eviction from her home. Reaching out to Single Stop allowed her to access emergency funds to keep her home along with additional resources that would ensure long-term support for herself and children.
Community College of Philadelphia plans to further integrate Single Stop into its student support services, having recently opened a new office at their West Regional Center. Belinda believes that having a consistent presence across these two locations will increase the rate of student support, with new staff being hired and around-the-clock care being offered to students outside of her Main Campus department.
CCP’s leadership has also taken notice of Single Stop’s positive impact, relocating the office to a central student life building on Main Campus where it is visibly accessible, boosting student communications and events, and bringing it directly to the classrooms. Belinda looks forward to training more staff on the platform and helping to expand Single Stop’s impact, guiding students to live a healthy and safe life. “Without the Single Stop assessment platform,” Belinda says, “We wouldn't be able to have the life-changing impact on students’ lives that we do.”
