Here’s how Edmonds College’s one-stop shop helps its students, employees

The number of people who visit the Triton Student Resource Hub at Edmonds College continues to rise. 

The Hub, which operates in the Olympic Building along 196th Street Southwest in Lynnwood, is a one-stop shop that offers a food pantry, community resources and emergency funding.

“This resource is for students to help them stay in school and be successful,” Emergency Grant Program Specialist Vivian Dang said.

During winter quarter 2025, about 2,200 students visited the food pantry, according to data compiled by the college. During that same quarter in 2024, about 1,470 visited the pantry. 

Dang said the Hub received 718 applications for emergency assistance funding from July 2024 to June 2025. It received 877 applications the fiscal year before that. 

Last quarter, the Hub approved $67,000 worth of emergency funding, and 75% of that was for housing expenses such as rent. Dang said housing is one of the main reasons students apply for emergency assistance funding.

“The cost of living keeps going up,” Dang said. “That’s a huge barrier a lot of our students have.”

Temple University’s Hope Center for Student Basic Needs issued a report in February 2025 that showcased survey findings from 91 colleges and universities across 16 states between spring 2023 and summer 2024.

According to the report, 59% of 74,350 students experienced at least one form of insecurity related to food or housing. This is especially common with Pell Grant recipients, and Black and Indigenous students, among other marginalized students.

The Hope Center for Student Basic Needs is “an action-oriented research, policy, and capacity-building center removing barriers to college student success and well-being,” according to its website. It’s based in Pennsylvania.

The emergency funding specialist at the Hub provides students with one-time financial assistance for expenses related to child care, utilities, food, gas, transportation and more. They can also help students experiencing homelessness.

“We can help in a lot of different ways, such as helping them pay for their past due balance … We can help them get into a motel for a short term,” Dang said.

Grants from the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges as well as the Puget Sound Taxpayer Accountability Account help supply the Hub’s emergency funding bank. Donations from the Edmonds College Foundation also help. 

In addition to the emergency funding specialist, the Hub has a 2-1-1 community resource advocate who can assist with rent, utilities, food resources, counseling, free phones and prescription assistance, among other needs. 

The food pantry at the Hub has items such as canned food, pasta, snacks and other shelf-stable goods. Personal hygiene supplies, such as toothbrushes and toothpaste, are available upon request. Baby diapers can also be acquired at the pantry. 

Stewart Sinning, center for student engagement and leadership program manager, said a crew visits the Edmonds Food Bank every Tuesday to get bread, pastries and baked goods for the pantry. The community farm on the Edmonds College campus also helps supply the pantry with tomatoes, onions, lettuce and kale.

The pantry is open from 3-7 p.m. Tuesday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday, and noon to 5 p.m. Thursday. The Lynnwood Food Bank also distributes food from 1-2 p.m. every Thursday at the Olympic Building parking lot. The resource Hub is open from 12-4:30 p.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday. Those with inquiries can contact 425-640-1271 or seag@edmonds.edu.

Angelica Relente is a Murrow News Fellow covering housing and related issues in South Snohomish County for the My Neighborhood News Network. Contact her at angelica@myedmondsnews.com.