- Oh, wow.

The students are great.

- [Evan] Cheska Pringle was a single mom when she got to Nash Community College in Rocky Mount in 2016.

- I had no experience in absolutely anything besides childcare.

That's right.

- [Evan] she'd moved to Nash County from Washington D.C. to take care of her mother.

With few resources to rely on, she walked two miles to school every day for three years.

This caused a lot of stress for Pringle.

But she found a program that will be soon called, Blue Love, a holistic wellness program started in 2014.

It's designed to meet basic needs of students including food, gas cards, and mental health services.

- Being able to have that resource, to have someone to talk to, just to be able to release and vent, and then be able to have a clear mind, to be able to study, to be able to, you know, just provide and just be a healthy mom.

That made a really, a huge difference in my life and my children's life.

- [Evan] Helping students where they live off-campus is part of the services offered.

And is driven by data like zip codes.

By using that information, staff can help them locate nearby food pantries, transportation hubs, and mental health service locations.

More and more students began relying on the program during the COVID-19 pandemic where the impacts of isolation and anxiety drove a 170% increase in clinical service utilization.

- I really think the alleviating of anxiety, the building of that campus culture of love, having students feel supported.

And being supported, not just feeling supported, but being supported by our campus.

And it's holistic and it's campus-wide.

- [Evan] Because of Blue Love, staff hopes that students will become more resilient and learn how to better advocate for their own health than ever before.

- It positively impacted students a lot because I know students personally who needed those benefits.

And it helped them be able to get gas cards, and the food pantry, and the clothes pantry.

Where it helped them be able to have clothes and food to survive, to be able to come to school.

- [Evan] Meanwhile, Cheska Pringle says she's proud to work with a program like Blue Love.

- Making sure that we let them know that we care, letting them know that, you know, we've got your back.

- For ncIMPACT, I'm Evan Howell.

- [Cheska] We're really doing this thing.