Saints Care Center celebrates first year of exceptional student support
September 18, 2026
Saints Care Center Coordinator JB Brown confided to a group gathered Thursday, Sept. 17, for an open house for the Center, “When I first applied for this job, I thought I was applying for Project Saint.” But her interviewer, SF Director of Grants Development Andrea Mender told Brown to think bigger.
A year later — thanks in part to a vision by the greater SF community to expand the student care safety net wider than initially imagined — the one-stop resource housed on the first floor of S Building on the Northwest Campus has exceeded expectations.
The Center is funded by the Basic Needs for Postsecondary Students Grant, which is managed jointly by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Labor to help colleges and organizations stem student hunger, lack of housing and other basic needs insecurities.
“Back in the day, this was just a food pantry in a little closet,” Brown said. “What started with a $17 bag of food assistance has grown to include housing assistance, transportation, loaners from the library for education technology, and more.”
Brown said that in their first year, the Saints Care Center signed up 2,000 students through the Basic Needs Survey. The Survey allows a student in need, regardless of their background, to get connected with mentorship and resources to bridge the gap while they pursue their education at SF.
She recounted the story of a homeless SF student and U.S. veteran who had no family support after discharge from the service.
“We hear that all the time,” Brown said. “Students are trying to get back on their feet and do something with their lives outside the environment of their family background. The first week of classes, we gave out 157 bags. And we sat down with more than 200 students to provide one-on-one, personalized counseling. We are one of only three colleges in Florida who have the Basic Needs Survey, but we’re one of very few schools that have the comprehensive resources we offer — not Duke, not UF, it’s Santa Fe.”
She explained that the Center provides the same student support at all of Santa Fe College’s associated centers, and recognized the collaboration from other SF offices, including Student Affairs, Counseling and Wellness Center, TRIO, Veterans, and Disabilities Resource Center.
Using a recent Hunger Action Challenge food drive held by the SF chapter of AFC (Association of Florida Colleges) for illustration, Brown said, “Santa Fe has created a culture of care,” revealing the results of a fierce departmental competition to wipe out student food insecurity. A back-and-forth duel saw Liberal Arts and Sciences overcome Student Affairs at the finish line — feeding an estimated 500 SF students.
Among them was Sharla Head, a mother of four sons and a recent graduate with a degree in Construction Management Technology from SF, who said “This was my fifth time starting life over again. Let me say I was very financially delicate — I was poor, y’all. Going from being financially secure to having a negative net-worth made things very real. I’m so grateful that Saints Care Center was there to fill the gap.”
Brown also announced another new stopgap resource, Stay Care, providing a 72-hour hotel stay for students experiencing housing insecurity, going beyond assistance with a security deposit.
