Happy, engaged, and connected college students

Goal One: We will institute 2-3 stations activities per semester to facilitate community-building among the students as well as achieve the more obvious goal (learn meditation skills, practice gratitude, etc.)

Goal Two: Pursue additional funds to support and expand our current programs

We only came into any kind of existence in October 2021, and became a non-profit organization in spring 2022. We have no staff members, so the Executive Committee of our Board of Directors is also the leadership team, playing a role that would ordinarily be filled by staff members. All Board members are required to do regular online training relevant to their position on the Board and the leadership team provided by NonprofitReady.

We are HAPPEE: Hugs and Pups Posse - Encouraging & Empowering! We are a group of volunteer parents and community members dedicated to supporting mental wellness among UNC Chapel Hill students by giving them the opportunity for some doggy playtime and a heartfelt hug. The first seed of an idea for our group was sown in October 2021; we became a NPO in spring 2022. Our evolution as a group has been informed by student and volunteer feedback as well as external factors. When Omicron hit, we stayed off campus until the number of new infections finally began to decrease. In the meantime, we found other ways to stay connected and send messages to the UNC-CH students to let them know that we cared about them. We chalked the sidewalks whenever they were about to return to campus after a break (e.g., winter and spring breaks), we held a Valentine's Day Puppy (car) parade, in which we drove around campus with our dogs in decorated cars and threw small bags of candy to nearby students as we went past. We painted rocks with hopeful, inspirational, or funny messages and asked students associated with HAPPEE (volunteers' children or friends) to leave them around campus for us. After our return to campus in early March 2022, the response from students to all of the above was so positive that we continued chalking walks and painting rocks, only then we left them around campus ourselves. A prominent UNC Infectious Diseases physician-researcher has agreed to be our consultant, and is in regular contact with the HAPPEE Board Chair to discuss how we can best protect the health and safety of both our volunteers and the students. As a result, all volunteers are required to wear N95 or equivalent masks for all HAPPEE-associated events or services during which they may encounter students. We will continue to monitor the coronavirus infection rate in our area but expect to continue this requirement for the foreseeable future. We need to be able to safely hug students.