Students who find themselves in situations such as needing grief counseling, needing health care, are homeless, or simply needing guidance have many resources available to them at CCS.

The Community Colleges of Spokane staff are currently working on a comprehensive resource guide that will be available to students in Fall 2019.

“We hope that the resource guide will be ready by the end of May in order to get them into the hands of our incoming freshmen and returning students for Fall 2019,” Nicci Nays, SFCC campus visit coordinator said.

“A hard copy of the resource guide will be printed,” Nays said. “And there will be an online version, available via canvas, for our online students to access, as well.”

Counselors are available in the Counseling Center to help students with all their needs. Counselors act as a liaison between the students and those who can provide services to students in need.

“We can help students with their needs,” Christine Mackleit, SFCC counselor said. “We listen to what their needs are and then connect them to those resources, which may be on-campus resources or outside community resources. If students have issues, we want the Counseling Center to be their first stop. We want to get the whole picture as they may need help with more than one issue.”

Although walk-in appointments are available, it is suggested you make an appointment to visit with your counselor.

“We have interns in the Counseling Center that work with students, as well,” Mackleit said. “Students really need to visit with a counselor, or one of our interns, because we want to make sure we have all of the components of what’s going on in their lives taken care of.”

CCS partners with local food banks and clothing banks to help provide for students in need.

“Students who have issues with housing also have issues with natural resources such as clothing and food,” Mackleit said. “We have offices here on campus that can help with each of those issues.”

CCS also provides resources to students who find themselves struggling with college.

“The first place we send struggling students to is the Tutoring Center,” Mackleit said. “The Tutoring Center is composed of students who have already taken those courses and have done well in them, and are willing to give back to others who are taking those classes. We even encourage students who are not having trouble to go to the Tutoring Center. It’s a good place to go for study groups and other information that they can get for test procedures and processes, writing labs, math labs and feedback.”

CCS offers tutoring and other learning resources are available to students.

Online tutoring and learning resources are also available for free to students who need them.

“Medical services offered at the SCC campus are available to SFCC students,” Mackleit said. “It might not be convenient, but it is an option for our students. Depending upon what type of medical services our students need, we can sometimes connect them with outside sources that we are linked with to help them.

If students find themselves in an abusive relationship, they are urged to visit the Counseling Center.

“Unfortunately, we have students who find themselves in this type of situation quite often,” Mackleit said. “We encourage them to start in the Counseling Center to determine, first and foremost, if they are safe and safe on this campus right now. There are other components to this, as well. Do they have children, or are there other people who are vulnerable and who could potentially be hurt or injured? We can connect these students with domestic violence shelters, and other resources available in the community.”

Counselors are available to provide you with help during stressful situations.

“We sit down with them and make a plan on what the next steps are before they ever leave our offices,” Mackleit said. “We do that with our counseling services and mental health interns.”

Many resources are offered on campus. Others are offered through the community.

“Anything and everything under the sun can be offered to our students,” Mackleit said. “If we don’t offer it here, we have some type of community connection to offer it. We want to be able to help every student holistically. We know that school is only one part of the students lives. There are so many more facets of their lives, so we make sure that we can cover and suggest the best possible services available to them.”

Financial Aid (located in building 17) and scholarship services can also be found at SFCC.

“We always have students file the FAFSA, and potentially students can get work-study,” Mackleit said. “Foundation scholarships are also available to some students. The Career and Community Engagement Center is available to students who need help in completing scholarship applications, resumes, cover letters, etc. They can help them in completing job applications, as well. It takes a lot of courage to ask for help. It is humbling and sometimes doesn’t feel good, and so sometimes it takes a friend or someone who cares to notice or ask the right question.”

As a fellow student, you can help.

“Students do a really good job of looking out for each other,” Mackleit said. “I encourage everyone to be kind and to ask questions if you think someone needs help with something. We all need to make sure that everyone is taken care of.”

CCS staff are available to help and can provide a safe option for students in need.

“Students can also go to an instructor or staff member with whom they feel comfortable,” said Nayes. “If the student doesn’t feel that there is an instructor or staff member they are comfortable with, they can go straight to the Counseling Center to speak with someone who can help assist the student in the best way possible.”