Dallas College Increases Student Persistence by 70% with Findhelp Fulfillment
Dallas College—one of the largest community colleges in Texas—has undertaken a system-wide transformation to meet basic needs support for students and eliminate non-academic barriers that prevent students from persisting and completing their education.
Dallas College partnered with Findhelp to support their comprehensive Student Care Network that addresses basic needs support for students beyond academics. By leveraging Findhelp Fulfillment, Dallas College can meet student needs immediately through services such as emergency housing, ride-sharing, and gift cards for food and gas. The initiative has led to significant improvements in student persistence and completion rates:
- 70% persistence rate for students referred to the Student Care Network.
- 85% persistence rate for students who received basic care needs services.
- 154 student parents were helped with a dedicated grant program (50% more than the original goal).
This case study explores how Dallas College used Findhelp Fulfillment to operationalize rapid, data-driven interventions and close the loop on social care.
In this post, you’ll learn how:
Dallas College transformed basic needs support for students by embedding Findhelp to deliver real-time social care fulfillment
Shifting from referrals to direct resource delivery—like housing, food, and transportation—dramatically improved student persistence and well-being
A data-driven, case management approach can help institutions remove barriers and drive meaningful outcomes at scale
Dallas College’s challenge: Persistent basic needs insecurity
National assessments conducted by the college — including the Hope Center Basic Needs Survey, the Trellis Student Financial Wellness Survey, and the Meadows Mental Health College Assessment — revealed profound levels of basic needs among students:
- 47% food insecurity
- 59% housing insecurity, with 19% staying with friends or relatives
- 44% reporting generalized anxiety disorder
- 59% reporting financial stress affecting academics
Compounding this, students often lacked awareness of available resources or assumed they came with hidden costs. The college needed a more effective way to not only connect students with resources but also ensure those needs were met in a timely, tangible way. They needed to move beyond simply making referrals and instead provide a more direct, frictionless delivery of services.
Dallas College serves over 127,000 students annually. 50% of the student population is female, 77% are part-time, and nearly one-third are adult learners balancing school, work, and family. The college consolidated seven independently accredited institutions into one college model to remove structural obstacles that previously hindered student completion.
The Student Care Network solution: A comprehensive support ecosystem
To address these challenges, Dallas College built a comprehensive, integrated model of student well-being and social support, anchored by the Student Care Network and powered by Findhelp Fulfillment.
With Findhelp, Dallas College moved from a referral-based model to a fulfillment-based one. Findhelp Fulfillment allows the college to order social goods and services directly from the platform, ensuring students receive immediate support. The implementation removed the bureaucratic hurdles of contracting with multiple vendors, which would have been too cumbersome for the institution to handle on its own.
Findhelp Fulfillment in action
Dallas College partnered with suppliers including Uber Health and Sanctuary, enabling fulfillment within hours—critical for students in crisis. Findhelp has been leveraged to provide:
- Emergency Housing: In partnership with Sanctuary, the college provides students with temporary housing for up to two weeks while working on a sustainable solution. This ensures students in crisis have a safe place to sleep and can focus on their studies. Without Findhelp, the college would have needed dozens of individual agreements with hotels—an administrative impossibility.
- Rideshare Services: The college pre-arranges Uber rides for students to get to and from campus, solving transportation barriers that local public transit routes couldn’t.
- Gift Cards for Essential Needs: Using Findhelp, the college distributes gift cards for gas, food, and utilities. This capability was crucial during Thanksgiving when a planned donation fell through, allowing the college to provide 350 gift cards to students within a couple of days. Gift cards can be category-restricted (e.g., food only), mailed or emailed, and tracked through Fulfillment reporting—critical for grant compliance.
“Having the ability to do this has been phenomenal. It’s a trailblazing opportunity for us to share what we’ve done.”
Dr. Carlos Cruz
Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Well-Being and Social Support at Dallas College
A paradigm shift
To deliver these services effectively, the college invested heavily in staffing, hiring counselors, student care coordinators, nurses, and health promotion coordinators. These staff members form the backbone of a comprehensive case management approach, coordinating with Findhelp to deliver real-time support.
Before Findhelp Fulfillment, students were referred to community organizations and expected to follow up. Now, Dallas College can fulfill needs instantly.
“We don’t leave things to chance. When it’s an emergency, it’s an emergency. Findhelp Fulfillment has allowed us to meet needs in real time—often within 24 hours.”
Dr. Carlos Cruz
Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Well-Being and Social Support at Dallas College
Data-driven impact
Dallas College’s proactive and integrated approach has yielded remarkable results. The college uses its comprehensive case management model to address the whole student, with the outcomes showing the extraordinary value of this approach.
- 70% of students referred to the Student Care Network persisted from fall to spring.
- The persistence rate was even higher for students who used specific services:
- 79% for students who visited the health center
- 84% for students who saw a professional counselor
- 85% for students who used the college’s food pantries or other basic needs services
These rates significantly surpass national community college averages for students who don’t seek this type of help, and have a persistence rate around 63%.
“We can tell this is working because we have the data. Students in crisis are persisting at rates we’ve never seen.”
Cathy Edwards
Dean of the Student Care Network at Dallas College
Spotlight: Family Care Initiative (FCI)
The Family Care Initiative is a grant-funded program that supports student parents—one of the most vulnerable populations on campus. Student parents can receive up to $500 in goods (diapers, car seats, formula, hygiene items, safety gear) via Findhelp Fulfillment. The program Includes nutritional classes, parent support groups, and case management to provide basic needs support for students.
154
student parents served
in year one (50% above goal)
126
currently enrolled
and in good standing
85%
student parent retention rate
(national rate is 37%)
Scaling student support
Dallas College demonstrates what is possible when an institution commits to closing basic-needs gaps through real-time social care fulfillment. The college has created a scalable, replicable blueprint for student well-being and success by combining:
Data-driven assessment
Comprehensive case management
Dedicated staffing
Flexible support options
Findhelp Fulfillment
Findhelp Fulfillment has become a critical tool in Dallas College’s mission—turning referrals into closed-loop, measurable outcomes that change students’ lives.
“We’re in the barrier-busting business.”
Dr. Carlos Cruz
Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Well-Being and Social Support at Dallas College
Ready to turn basic needs support for students into real, measurable impact?
Dallas College’s experience shows what’s possible when institutions move beyond referrals and deliver immediate, trackable support through a connected system of care. By embedding fulfillment into everyday workflows with Findhelp, they didn’t just connect students to resources—they ensured those needs were actually met, improving persistence and transforming outcomes.
If your organization is working to address basic needs and remove barriers to success, you don’t have to build it alone. Findhelp partners with colleges, health systems, and community organizations to design and scale solutions that connect people to the right support at the right time.
Grab time with us to see how you can create a more responsive, student-centered support system in your community.
