It’s supposed to be a time of joy, cheer, and family gatherings. But for too many students at Ivy Tech Sellersburg, Christmas has come to be associated with something else—stress.
There is tremendous anxiety for some to find enough food for holiday meals, afford Christmas gifts for their kids, and the prospect of being unable to provide for their families during a holiday season that so many others associate with twinkling lights and presents under the tree.
“We had several students coming to us disclosing that during the holiday times, they couldn’t provide for their families. They talked about how much of a hindrance it was for them to be able to have food and gifts for their kids on Christmas,” said Dominique Whipple, Director of the IvyCares program at Ivy Tech Sellersburg. “Our students said they weren't able to embrace the time off during the holidays because they were stressing about the things that came next.”
IvyCares is designed to help Ivy Tech Sellersburg students with crucial non-academic issues such as food access, childcare assistance, and transportation resources. That mission doesn’t end when students leave campus for winter break. To try and ease the tension around the holidays, IvyCares has set up an Angel Tree in the lobby of Pfau Hall, where anyone can select a tag bearing a child’s gender, age, clothes and shoe size, and gift ideas. All of the children represented on the tree have parents or guardians who are students at Ivy Tech Sellersburg.
Boy, age 6, likes trucks and dinos
Whipple holds up one tag adorned with an angel, for example: a boy, age 6, wearing size 8 clothes, who likes Beyblades, trucks, and dinosaurs. One year, the tree had 92 angel tags. So far this season, it has 54 and counting. The deadline for donors to submit the gifts is Dec. 13, although IvyCares will accept them up to Dec. 16. IvyCares also asks for donations of gift wrapping so the items can be wrapped before they’re presented to the parents or guardians.
Students who need food assistance over the holidays can also make an appointment to visit the IvyCares food pantry, which is also accepting donations. About 60 percent of students involved in the Angel Tree program also request a food pantry visit, Whipple said, and during that process, IvyCares discusses any other needs the students may have.
“We think they're going on break, and it's time away from their studies. But really, they were going on break, and they were stressed,” Whipple said. “To hear them say, ‘I don’t know how we're even going to have Christmas,’ was eye-opening for me. I have an interview with every single applicant to discuss their overall needs. There are additional questions like, do you need housing assistance? Do you need community resources or counseling? Are you a single mother? I try to connect them to the appropriate resources so this isn't a band-aid, and they have someone can help address all their concerns.”
Efforts like that are integral at Ivy Tech Sellersburg, given the nontraditional makeup of its student body. There are parents who work 9-to-5 and take classes in the evening, grandparents raising their grandchildren who are taking classes, and nursing students who work 12-hour weekend shifts and take classes during the week. Many of these students are parents who are trying to better their lives while raising children and occasionally need a little help along the way.
“Our slogan is Higher Education at the Speed of Life, and that just makes sense to me, right?” Whipple said. “When you go to complete a goal, all the other obligations you have don't stop. So, we're meeting students where they are, and to retain a student and help them matriculate, you must address all of areas of their life.”
Tools to build resilience
Whipple, who’s been at Ivy Tech Sellersburg for three years, is very attuned to those needs—her parents both were philanthropists and as a child, she remembers picking an angel off the Angel Tree at the grocery store. Her work at IvyCares includes not just overseeing the school’s Angel Tree but also the food pantry, the Ivy Threads boutique that helps students dress for job interviews, and helping students find transportation if their car breaks down, even once renting a U-Haul truck to deliver an extra bed to a student in need.
“It's really important, I think, to understand that you need to be able to have the assistance to deal with life while you're trying to complete goals,” she said. “As long as you give people the tools to build that resilience, they can be unstoppable. And empathy and regard for other people's situations go a long way because you never know when you may need that same support.”
To that end, the Angel Tree falls right in line with other programs offered by IvyCares. It’s an initiative capable of changing lives—as Whipple learned when she was stopped by a former student, now working at a community agency, who thanked her for once helping to provide Christmas for herself and her four children.
“She said, ‘You don't understand the difference that that made for me because I was staying up during finals week trying to figure out how I was going to pass and provide afterward. I was stressed. And you actually sat beside me and met me where I was and helped me through my challenges,’” Whipple recalled. “Hearing something like that is priceless to me.”
Interested in donating to the Angel Tree at Ivy Tech Sellersburg or one of the other programs overseen by IvyCares? Call Ivy Tech Sellersburg at (812) 246-3301, ext 4421, email at sellersburg-ivycares@ivytech.edu, or visit the website at IvyTech.edu/locations/sellersburg for more information.
