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Oct 29, 2021Liked by Isabelle Hau

You're offering so much to think about in every newsletter, Isabelle. I especially appreciated the story about Dr. Autumn Green's efforts to help student parents. I returned to college at age 50 to complete a Bachelor's degree. There were many part-time students; I was in a wonderful interdisciplinary studies program for people returning to college after 7 or more years break (my break was much longer than most). There were many parents with children of varying ages, and I had elder-care responsibilities, too, which were unpredictable (I completed one of my term papers from my mother-in-law's hospital room). I also cared part-time for my grandson - his father, too, was a part-time student. The internet has opened so many opportunities, and it's wonderful to hear from Dr. Green as she works to help student parents. I hope her research encompasses all caregiving students. Many nontraditional students have care responsibilities - for older children / teens, for disabled or elder family members.

My university promoted a ride-sharing app, which I used... it could also have a care-sharing app, so students could meet each other and share/exchange caregiving. Kind of like Co-Abode matches single moms wanting to share housing—students wanting to share/exchange caregiving could find a match and take turns caring for each others' family members. There could also be an app for finding/hiring on-campus students who want to babysit/care for a few hours at a time (I saw a lot of notices posted on hallway bulletin boards, people, including professors, searching for babysitters.) . It would be even better if there were on-campus places made available for students to bring their family member(s) to stay for a few hours (with a designated caregiver) - to do homework, to play games, to exercise. There are so many possibilities.

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