Skyline College receives funding to support career and technical education and recently used some of this money to launch the Spark Point center, a resource on campus that helps economically disadvantaged individuals with multiple services in career development and financial support.

“They can come here and get individual attention to get them directed to all these different services that can provide financial coaching,” said William Watson, Spark Point director.

Spark Point is a center that offers one-stop assistance for low-income families and individuals to help them become financially stable. Services include job training and debt and credit counseling.

One of the most convenient services for this time of year is the free tax preparation service that the Spark Point center provides. Students taking an accounting class are trained by the IRS, and then they fulfill their lab requirements by preparing people’s taxes on Saturday mornings for free.

“Best preparation there is,” Watson said.

Another new service, which started just two weeks ago, is the Beyond Economic Self-Sufficiency tools program, which offers financial assistance for books, transportation, career development and, most importantly, food.

“We have a food pantry where people can come here and get whatever they want,” Watson said.

Watson said that the pantry is for students who really need it. If they qualify for food stamps, then they also qualify for the food pantry program. It’s a much-needed service that most people would not expect.

The food pantry is open by appointment only every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday from 2pm to 4pm except for scheduled college holidays.

” We recently had to increase the days of the food pantry access, cause all of our appointments were becoming full” says Adolfo Leiva, workforce development coordinator

“So far, it has been pretty surprising to see how many people on campus actually have that need. There is a wide need here,” said Glenda Benavides, Spark Point center office assistant. “I was kind of surprised on how rewarding it is to help a person in need, especially when it comes to something as basic as food.”

Whether its job training, free tax services, or food assistance, Spark Point center can help students get through hard times.

“I haven’t used their services, but it’s good to know that there are places that you can use when you need help,” said Janet Phan, Skyline student.

The Spark Point center is located in building 1 on the second floor.

“If somebody is trying to go to college and don’t know how to make ends meet, then they need to know about Spark Point,” Watson said.