Cecil College now offers a Student Support and Resource Center (SSRC) on campus, run by Tylethea Mathis. She offers support to students who are not finding it anywhere else through resources such as a food pantry and one-on-one counseling.

Mathis explained that the Student Support and Resource Center “offers resources to address social barriers. We have a food pantry, which is pretty intensive, and that’s for take home food as opposed to the pantry in student life which is snacks. Here we have hamburger helper, and peanut butter… we have a lot of food that you would take home and make a meal out of, which you can’t really do here on campus. We also have recipes in there for items you can take from the pantry and go home and make a meal with.”

Beyond the food pantry offerings, the SSRC also offers support to students who are victims of abuse or assault, students who are in need of emotional or psychological support or students who just need help managing basic anxieties that can manifest when enrolled in college courses. Mathis offers that, “We have brochures that work to address everything from domestic assault to sexual abuse, and we have a peer mentor, Mason Seymour, for substance recovery or any other questions. We do workshops, they’re called Robyn’s Round Table, and they’re for anything from public speaking to test anxiety, time management, study tips, and I’m going to do one on job interviewing skills.”

Mathis said that her job is to “provide support for students that come in that may need answers that they’re not comfortable talking to their professors or advisors with, and they know I’m confidential. I have several students who come down and chat with me, make appointments, and come back as often as they want.”

Mathis also states that her job entails being an advocate for students for off-campus issues such as housing or transportation. She adds, “I also try to find outside resources. I’ve had students come in that were being evicted, and I was able to give them several local church names and a relief organization. I have friends at whatsyourgrief.com, it’s an amazing website, and I had a student come in who was having a difficult time with their emotions due to an ill family member. I showed them the website, and then I contacted the owner and she’s going to send us some pamphlets. So I look out for resources and network with community agencies on a macro level to bring in resources, and I work with the students on a micro level.”

Since the SSRC is relatively new on campus, Mathis understands that she provides resources that some students may not know about. “That’s why I’ve been going to professor’s classrooms for the past two months now doing a little spiel, taking pamphlets, handing them out and saying ‘Hey, we’re here.’ Every class that I have gone to, and I have gone to a lot of them at this point, I’ve had someone from almost every class come down. I’ve had people come down that I was really able to help, I was able to give them concrete information, and help make appointments.”

Mason Seymour, who works as a peer mentor in the student life office, thinks that a SSRC is important for a campus to have because “coming from a student perspective, I’m not really comfortable talking to just anyone. I have a lot of students coming and talking to me just because I’m their age, so that’s easier because they’re my friends in a sense. But sometimes talking to an adult is easier. Sometimes you feel like you don’t want to bother your professors, or you can’t just open up to your English professor or your bio teacher, sometimes it’s just uncomfortable.”

Mathis adds that students worry “about the boundaries between friend and professor.”

Mathis, as a middle ground between students and professors states that, “people just say I’m easy to talk to, easy to approach. I don’t know, maybe it’s the tattoos and the piercings and the teal hair.”

Above all, Mathis wants students to know that the Student Support and Resource Center is “just a safe place to come hang out. Everybody’s welcome, you can come share your story or just come and be quiet. There are people that come in that I might be able to relate to one a one-to-one basis. When you go into the world of social work you usually have a background or history. We have our reasons that we want to reach out to others and help.”

The Student Support and Resource Center is located in room 103A in the TC building, and is open Monday and Tuesday from 7:30-4:30. You can contact the SSRC at 410-287-1055.