The Student Emergency Fund: Helping Students Through Tough Times
The Office of Student Success, located in Woodland Hall, helps students access the Student Emergency Fund.
This is part of a series of stories highlighting the impact of donors ahead of Chatham University Day of Giving on April 22, 2026.
When a winter storm dumped over nine inches of snow throughout the Pittsburgh region in January, Nina Grushinski, MSCP ’26, saw her ceiling cave in, exposing her to freezing temperatures and rendering her South Hills apartment unlivable.
Grushinski, who’s in the Master of Counseling Psychology program at Chatham University, spent several nights sleeping on friends’ couches and wondering what to do. Her landlord offered no help. Even after she found a new place to live, she had no way of moving her belongings on her own.
That’s when a professor suggested she apply to the Student Emergency Fund. Using money provided to her by the fund, Grushinski was able to hire movers to help her relocate to a better living space in a new neighborhood.
“It was such a light amid all the craziness and being ignored by the leasing agency I was working with,” she said. “To feel like to somebody cared and was willing to help just meant the world to me at the time.”
What is the Student Emergency Fund?
When a Chatham University student is in need, they can apply via an online form for financial assistance from the Student Emergency Fund. Jess Bartko, the associate director for student success, facilitates student access to the fund.
Jess Bartko is the associate director for student success.
“I’ll package up information from the form and make it into a file that the committee can review,” Bartko said.
The committee is comprised of staff, faculty, and administrators from various offices and departments at Chatham.
They evaluate requests and decide whether the details of a student’s situation meet the criteria for disbursements from the fund.
In time-sensitive matters, where a student may be in immediate need of housing, food, or critical school supplies like textbooks, applications are often approved quickly, Bartko said.
For students like Grushinski, this aid can be a lifeline, helping them continue their studies without having to worry about meeting their basic needs.
In addition to financially supporting students experiencing hardship, the Office of Student Affairs also helps by providing resources. Those can include temporary on-campus housing, information about food banks and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and essential items like hygiene products from Chatham’s Essential Needs Closet and pantries.
What Qualifies as an Emergency?
Generally, the Student Emergency Fund is there to help students with immediate, unexpected financial difficulties.
The fund offers disbursements of up to $1,000 in the form of grants. In other cases, the office may give meal vouchers to get food from the Anderson Dining Hall, or they may make a one-time purchase of a textbook needed by a student facing an emergency.
Whether a situation qualifies a student to access the emergency fund is up to the Student Emergency Fund Committee. But there is one issue Bartko sees often: Students disregarding the fund as a resource because they think another student may need it “more.”
“It breaks my heart, because that’s not the point,” Bartko said. “If we just save for someone who needs it more, those funds will just sit there. If you need it, you need it, and we want you to have it.”
Grushinski thought this way; when her professor suggested she apply for the fund, she figured her case wouldn’t qualify. But it did.
“If you’re struggling, there is no shame in reaching out for help,” Grushinski said. “Don’t hesitate.”
Even if students don’t qualify for access to the fund, the Office of Student Affairs will still help them access the resources they need.
Nina Grushinkski is studying for her Master of Science in Counseling Psychology degree.
The Impact on Students
For Grushinski, going from couch surfing to settling into a new home led to a dramatic change in her ability to focus on her work and studies.
“I wasn’t sleeping well. I was working a full-time job on top of going to class,” she said. “It was such a blur of a situation. To finally have a place that was my own again, where I could go home and refresh … I can’t even imagine what life would have been like had I not had the means to do that.”
Now, she’s preparing for a summer internship at UPMC’s Center for Children and Families. “I’m really looking forward to it,” said Grushinski. She’s on track to graduate at the end of the fall 2026 term.
Thanks to generous donors and fundraising efforts by Chatham employees, the Student Emergency Fund had more money than usual this year to assist students when they need it.
“It allows the committee to help without thinking twice,” Bartko said. “You never want to pinch pennies when a student is in need.”
Support from donors makes stories like this possible.
Consider donating during Chatham University’s annual Day of Giving on April 22, 2026. Visit givecampus.com to learn more.