In the summer of 2024, a first-year student was referred to Guadalupe Orbezo-Perez ’20 in the Financial Aid Office asking where they could find cheap living essentials in Beloit. She needed dorm items like a shower caddy, pillow, and bedsheets. Guadalupe had observed successful collection drives for food kits and care bags organized by local community organizations and immediately reached out to faculty and staff. She received an overwhelming response in the form of donations, which have since been gathered to form The Nest.

What is a nest? For Buccaneers it could be the crow’s nest on a ship’s main mast, the place from which someone is always looking out. For Guadalupe and Vanessa Rammelt, Associate Director of Financial Aid, The Nest is a safe space, a cozy place, for everyone at Beloit College. “It lives in Financial Aid because so do we,” they say. “But it’s a community effort. If I have it and you need it, take it.”

Fast forward to winter 2024 on a below 20 degree day when a football player arrived for a financial aid appointment with Vanessa. He was dressed in multiple hooded sweatshirts.

Before she asked how she could help with financial aid, she asked if he had a winter coat. He was from a southern state and probably never owned one. “I couldn’t focus on financial aid until we figured that part out.” Vanessa found the student a winter coat, gloves, and a hat. She didn’t see him again.

Since they never ask who the students are, just what they need, many remain nameless and disappear back into campus. The Nest has not disappeared. It’s grown because the community is always on the look-out for ways to support students, as they move into an apartment or move out of residence halls at the end of the semester.

“Once a Beloiter, always a Beloiter means help and resources for every next step,” says Guadalupe.

She and Vanessa pick up donated items, and staff volunteers transport large donations in their cars. Requests at meetings are met with swift responses when seasonal needs arise. Staff members watch for items left behind at semesters’ end and throughout the year, sifting through dorm spaces for gently used articles to be washed and added to The Nest. Vanessa once found a coat hung on her office door left by housekeeping staff during the night. Vanessa and Guadalupe continue to be on the look out to coordinate across campus and increase student and staff awareness of The Nest as well as the variety of available items needed.

“Our goal is for people to know what The Nest is and how to access it,” says Vanessa.

Grateful to the college community, they recognize that connecting, not duplicating services, increases access without needing more staff capacity. They are also exploring new coordination of previous efforts such as a professional rental closet for job interviews and collection drives at the end of the school year during move-out.

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Incoming, current and graduating students, faculty, and staff in need of items or seeking to donate gently-used items can visit The Nest, no questions asked.

• Walk-ins are welcome, but prior arrangements are encouraged to ensure staff availability for pick-up and drop off.
• Individuals can request items via email, and arrange for pick-up.
• We welcome donations of dorm essentials (clothes, shoes, hygiene items, etc.). Other needed items can be found on the “What to Bring” list.