Nearly 10% of students at NC State had experienced homelessness throughout the 2016 school year. This statistic led to the birth of HOST, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing short-term housing for college students experiencing homelessness in Wake County.

Mary Haskett, the founder of HOST and NC State professor emeritus, said she was alarmed when she realized how few resources the university offered for students experiencing homelessness. 

“I discovered that several of my students were experiencing homelessness, and I started asking around campus, ‘Where are the resources? Surely, you have resources,’” Haskett said. “Found out not so much.”

Haskett formed an interdisciplinary task force to decide how to move forward with solutions for the housing crisis on campus. The task force included members from various campus groups including housing staff, dining staff, student advisors and student government. The group pursued data collection and Haskett said the results were staggering. 

“We collected the data in 2017 and discovered that almost 10% of students at NC State had been homeless in the past year,” Haskett said. 

As a result of the data collection, the group received a small grant from the NC State University Foundation which was used to research the methodology employed by other universities to combat homelessness amongst college students. 

“The solution that the students were most excited about was the host home program,” Haskett said. 

Within the first two years of HOST functioning as a part of Pack Essentials, a resource on NC State’s campus that serves as a hub of resources to help students with their needs, Haskett said the program had a 100% success rate, but shortly after, moved away from being an NC State specific non-profit to help other universities in the area. 

Kaleb Holder, a fourth-year studying environmental science, was one of the students who utilized HOST for their needs. They said they were introduced to the program by Erin McKenney, a professor in applied ecology, who disclosed during class there were resources to help students with their specific needs. 

“I think that the first step is having professors who are willing and open to disclose,” Holder said. “What Dr. McKinney said was she doesn’t have all the answers, but she wants the class to feel comfortable coming to her and even if she doesn’t have the answers, she’ll try to find the next step for them.”

Sarah and Chris Wyne have been a part of the HOST program since 2023. They said their main motive behind joining the program and becoming a host family was to provide a supportive environment for a fellow human. 

“Raleigh has a magazine called ‘The Walter,’ and in December they list a lot of non-profits,” Sarah Wyne said. “And that year, the HOST was listed, and it talked about 10,000 kids from State had no place to sleep. And I said, we got to do that. And my husband said, ‘Yeah, we do.’”

Holder was housed with Sarah and Chris Wyne as a part of the HOST program for several months and said the program did a phenomenal job at assigning them HOST parents and securing basic needs and comfort. 

“Even though I was going through something that was very difficult, I still felt like I was okay, both physically, like housing-wise, as well as emotionally, because that match was just so perfect with them,” Holder said. 

When Holder first arrived at the Wyne household, he said the couple was more than happy to lend him basic items and a free range of appliances, however, it didn’t just stop there. The Wyne’s set up a personal garden for Holder and also invited them to join Chris on his volunteer trips to the Science Museum every Wednesday. 

Not only did HOST and Pack Essentials help set up Holder with secure housing, they said their efforts did not stop there. 

“They didn’t just stop in providing housing,” Holder said. “They also tried to make sure that students are connected to resources.” 

Holder’s case manager helped them look for affordable apartments in the area for rent, while also helping pay for the first-month deposit with additional help on financial aid concerns. 

Holder still keeps in contact with the Wyne family and said they are grateful to have received their support. 

“I think the family I stayed with is so valuable to my life now even though the terrible situation that I went through,” Holder said. “I’m very grateful I was connected with the people, because I know that they’ll be lifelong friends.”

The latest survey published by HOST detailed an increase in students experiencing homelessness since 2017 — though the number has decreased from its high during the pandemic. The 2023 report noted that nearly 30% of NC State students had experienced food insecurity in the past year and 14% had experienced homelessness. 

“So, [in spite] of Pack Essentials and this influx of resources, we have a growing health problem, and I think that is because Pack Essentials is what I call downstream services,” Haskett said. 

Kaly Wall, coordinator of student success initiatives for the environmental first-year program, and John Classen, director of graduate programs for biological and cultural engineering, serve as co-chairs of the University’s steering committee for student food and housing. 

The committee works to create “upstream solutions” that address the root causes of homelessness and food insecurity on NC State’s campus. They work alongside organizations like Feed the Pack and HOST to gauge the need amongst students. The group itself responds with specific plans to target the apparent structural inefficiencies. 

Wall said the committee works to address homelessness among students and food insecurity. Their goal is to find solutions within the University and try to have conversations that can result in structural change. 

The steering committee includes members from across NC State’s campus, which allows them to understand the experiences of students from various disciplines. Wall said that those involved are passionate about and dedicated to supporting students in their community. 

Wall said her personal experience was one reason she was invited to join the steering committee. 

“When I went to undergrad at NC State, between 2011 and 2015, I was food insecure,” Wall said. “I was actually the first person to ever use Feed the Pack.”

Recently the committee has created strategies to increase community involvement with the HOST program. The group discussed utilizing local alumni networks to spread the word about the work of the non-profit and the level of need amongst college students in the county. 

With the limited number of on-campus housing options for upperclassmen, the group makes a point to work with the university itself. They stress the importance of increasing affordable housing options for students. 

“We’ve pushed on the University in various ways to emphasize the need,” Classen said. “To emphasize that just because they will buy a piece of property in a hotel and turn them into luxury apartments that are for students doesn’t mean that they’ve actually added beds.”