CNM Launches Wellness Campaign to Help Students Succeed Academically and Personally

CNM is excited to announce a new wellness initiative that will take a holistic approach to serving students and provide emotional, physical, educational, and familial support on and off campus. 

This initiative has been in the works since 2020 when the pandemic revealed the need. 

“During the pandemic, folks started to realize that students deal with a lot of unseen or unknown hardships,” says Brittany Karnezis, CNM’s Director of Student Life, who initiated the campaign. “As a campus, we decided we needed to address these issues.” 

The first part of the initiative, CNM’s Food Pantry, opened in December of last year. It provides students in need with a free bag of fresh fruits and vegetables, non-perishable items, and toiletries every Wednesday. Since then, the pantry has helped over 800 students. 

In October, Wellness CNM announced a partnership with TAO Connect. This free mental well-being service provides hundreds of self guided modules and videos on topics like managing stress, meditation, and more. Since its launch, almost 500 CNM students and staff have accessed the TAO app. 

Brittany says this is just the beginning of the resources Wellness CNM will provide. 

“We chose the word ‘wellness’ because it incorporates so many things,” Brittany says. “Mental health is one of those things, but if a student isn’t eating or is living in their car, they are going to have a hard time academically. We want to see people thriving, physically and mentally.” 

The full Wellness CNM campaign will be available in 2023. Students will have access to expanded support including therapy referrals, mental well-being workshops, and the help of Brittany and her staff to navigate community resources. 

Ultimately, Brittany believes Wellness CNM will have a large impact on student retention, persistence, and graduation rates. 

“We already know from the Food Pantry that we are impacting entire households, not just students,” Brittany says. “And we feel that when there is a healthy student body, there will be healthy results for the college and the community.” 

For more information about available community resources provided through the Wellness campaign, click here. To register for TAO Connect click here and use your CNM email address.