UConn’s Student Health and Wellness (SHaW) program organized a fair-style tabling event with various organizations and programs local to UConn Storrs and the general area at the Student Union lawn on Sept. 10 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Students who got enough stamps from the people tabling for their event card were entered into a raffle to win prize baskets. Whether or not you won, there was also lots of free stuff on the tables which encouraged attendees to learn more about the organizations offering them.
The fair had multiple different subject materials grouped in clusters across the lawn. This included multiple UConn clubs with a focus on well-being and health sciences.
“I started as a member and [we] built a community [and careers] through workshops, events and internships,” Dayna Mbugua said, the social media chair of the student group Minorities in Medicine. Mbugua is in her third semester at UConn, studying chemistry and molecular and cell biology.
“Minorities in Medicine created an environment where we feel like we have the ability to succeed,” Mbugua said.
There was also an Allied Health Sciences club geared toward people interested in healthcare fields with guest speakers, networking events and the Kidney Disease Screening and Awareness Program (KDSAP). Alana Modi, a third-semester physiology and neurobiology major and a member of KDSAP left the statistic, “kidney disease is a leading cause of death in America.”
There were nutrition and diet-based programs, such as SHaW’s own dietary and nutrition programs with registered dietitians free for students and the Spring Valley Student Farm, a residential program where students live on a farm about five miles away from campus and grow organic produce for UConn.
Jenaliz Cordero, a fifth-semester geoscience major said, “It’s like its own different community. We get to learn a lot about each other because there’s only 11 of us and we try our best to keep the farm alive.”
The fair also featured many resources in the realm of mental health.
Let’s Talk is a program run by SHaW Mental Health, where students can have free and confidential 15-to-20-minute conversations with mental health professionals for advice ranging from getting access to other resources, non-clinical issues and how to support someone else. The program is on a first-come first-serve basis.
There were also resources available for queer and transgender UConn students such as the Wheeler Clinic’s Walk With Me program, which offered confidential physical and psychological support geared for LGBTQIA+ people as well as adult hormone replacement therapy medications.
For a queer and trans-centered program closer to the UConn community, the Lavender Resilience Collective, a program run by queer SHaW faculty about the intersections of mental health and being LGBTQIA+, is starting up for the Fall 2025 semester.
There were also resources pertaining to sexual and intimate partner abuse and violence. For example, the organization Protect Our Pack had their own table at the event. The UConn-based program is run through the Dean of Students Office.
“Protect Our Pack is important because it’s important for students to feel safe and confident,”
Hannah Halloran said. Halloran is the coordinator for student support services and bystander initiatives and helps organize Protect Our Pack. “It’s easy to recognize when something is wrong. Our mission is to help students call someone out or offer support or get connected to resources. Our mission is to help students protect their community.”
Next to Protect Our Pack was the Sexual Assault Crisis Center of Eastern Connecticut (SACCEC), a free and confidential non-profit service. SACCEC Prevention Coordinator Lindsay Rogers said, “It’s important to know your local resources and help your community. We’re here to help people and this program shows that.”
There were resources for those who have struggled with drug addiction or know someone who has. Some of the organizations who tabled included the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR), UConn’s Recovery Support Services — with its headquarters in between Whitney Dining Hall and downtown Storrs — and Connecticut Harm Reduction Alliance (CTHRA).
An anonymous representative of CTHRA said the program they work for helps by “meeting people where they’re at [and] standing in between a gap.”
The UConn-based mental health podcast organization Holistic Huskies was collecting notes from attendees about what they do for self-care and mindfulness. A different program had attendees write anti-suicide and pro-mental health messages on small flags which will be planted on the Student Union lawn at a later date for Suicide Prevention Week.
There was a section for on-campus resources like the Center for Students with Disabilities (CSD) and the UConn Wellness Library.
“They’re looking for support to access things on campus just like how everyone else is,” Ben Briskin of CSD said about the students who engage with the program. “Our office works with students one-on-one to make sure that we’re addressing their individual needs and working with them on accommodations taking into account where they’re coming into UConn from.” Briskin is a marketing and special programs coordinator for CSD.
CSD assists with dining and housing accommodations in addition to academic accommodations.
Representatives of the Homer Babbidge Library wanted students to know that the library is much more than just a place to get specific books and study. On the basement level there are leisure reading and mental health support books meant to help students destress from academics.
There’s a lot of work that needs to be done to support people’s holistic health at UConn and beyond. There are resources out there designed to support you. The first barrier is breaking the stigma of mental health.