RALEIGH, N.C. — Every Thursday afternoon, come rain or shine, college students start lining up. Homemade baked goods are set out on tables and hugs are ready.

Meet the group known as the Free Moms.

"Here you'll find free mamas, papas, grandmas, and dogs,” said Nancy Nelson, who founded the group several years ago at North Carolina State University in Raleigh. "I just say, ‘Welcome back home. Do you feel a little home?’ And every kid goes, 'Yeah,' and I say, 'Good. I hope it's more every week!'"

All of her kids are grown, but Nelson felt a need to help students here feel less alone.

"We do feel like their mamas," she said.

What started with one mom now numbers more than 80 moms and dads, including Kate Theriot and her husband, Tom.

"Nancy started sharing what she was doing over here and to be honest, I was like, 'Not my wheelhouse. Not that, no. That's not what I do,'” Kate Theriot recalled, “but Tom always says I make best friends in the grocery store in line."

With that, they both began volunteering.

"I went to school here. I graduated in 1982,” Tom Theriot said, “and I remember how stressful it was to be here and it seems like stress has been built up so much more. "

So, along with 80 other parents, they all lend an ear, share a kind word or offer a hug. It quickly gained a fan following among the students.

"I just felt like it was a really awesome opportunity to get a piece of home and connect with people," said student Alaina Kelly.

Anna Thomasson accompanied Kelly out to the “Free Moms” gathering.

"I thought, 'Hey, that's so cool,' and you get a great homemade snack,” Thomasson said. “So, I love it! I think it's really great."

Student Sydnie Parks makes sure she stops by each week to say hello to Kate Theriot.

"I'm always like, 'Let me get to the Free Moms because it's not really about the deserts. I will take free food. I am a college student. But what the moms do is just really nice and just gives extra support that the students really need," Parks said.

A 2021 Healthy Minds study collected data from more than 370 college campuses around the country and found that 60% of students met the criteria of facing at least one mental health issue.

In addition, 12% of college students across the country reported contemplating suicide. At NC State, four students died by suicide last semester, driving home the mission for these free moms and dads.

"There's been a lot of suicides on campus, and there's a real need for people to be brought out of the shells and just be in a positive place," said Tom Theriot.

Kate Theriot says she sees how the students react to their presence.

"They're so moved because they just don't expect anyone to be thinking about them and to not only think about them but to do something about it,” she said. “And that's what we want to do; we want to do something that lets the students know they're not alone."

It's an isolation some students say can be easy to feel when you're away from home.

"I'm actually a transfer student here. I transferred from App [Appalachian State University], which is about three hours away from here,” said student Aniston Boswell, “and this would have helped me a lot up there because I didn't have my parents up there and just knowing that this is here helps a lot of students here."

Nancy Nelson said she would like to see Free Moms start popping up on college campuses nationwide.

"When anyone gets out of their comfort zone and gives unconditional love, it changes them again,” she said. “It changes the person. It changes the atmosphere and that's what this world needs.'"

It’s also what these students are getting.

FAIRFAX, Va. — On a sweltering summer day, the boxes keep coming.

“This has been a really aggressive ramp up, as you can see,” said Kristyn Peck, CEO of Lutheran Social Services - National Capital Area (LSSNCA).

The boxes contain the basic necessities for a new life, which are destined for Afghan allies arriving in the U.S. It’s not the first time Lutheran Social Services – National Capital Area have been called up to do this.

“We've been serving refugees and immigrants since right after World War II,” said Peck.

They are now helping those fleeing a different war, as a part of the nine national social services agencies the U.S. government is working with to help arriving Afghan refugees.

“We are so grateful to be able to be on the front lines of this response. This is why we do our work,” Peck said. “This is why we're here, but it has taken a community effort.”

It hasn’t been easy.

They received 24 hours notice from the government that Afghan refugees would be arriving and needing their help. A scramble for volunteers and donations began.

“It has been pretty overwhelming,” said Regan Brough, stake director of public affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Annandale, Virginia. “Trucks started arriving last Wednesday and they reached out for help saying we need volunteers here now.”

Inside the church basement, among scores of donations, a small staff for LSSNCA works to process the needs of hundreds of government-vetted, incoming Afghan refugees.

“It's feeling a little bit chaotic right now to some of us, but we're happy to be here and happy to open the doors and be on hand,” said Pastor Dan Roschke with Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

In all of last year, Peck said they helped 500 people resettle in the area. Now, they’ve helped settle 500 refugees just this month.

“We didn't have the number of staff we would need to accommodate this level of clients,” Peck said. “And so, we are working with our volunteer network to ensure that we have volunteers who are helping to do home visits, who are helping to bring clients gift cards.”

Crammed into the hallways outside the office, toiletries, cleaning supplies, child car seats, and even vacuum cleaners, are sorted for distribution to the refugees. Every little bit helps they say, to help people who have been through an experience unimaginable to most.

“We hope that they feel welcomed and loved. They have gone through a very traumatic experience,” Brough said. “And right now, they need to know that there are people who care about them and that want them to be well and to help them get started in a new place where they can be well.”

They hope the generosity will extend beyond the short term.

“I hope that this response sustains beyond this initial emergency period and people are reaching out to their new neighbors, knocking on the door: ‘What can I do to help you?” Peck said. “I think that those connections that we have with each other are really critical to foster resilience.”

In addition to gathering donations, finding safe, permanent housing for the refugees is also a big challenge.

If you would like to help in any way, you can click here for the website to LSSNCA and see what donations are still needed. You can also reach out to their national organization, Lutheran Immigration and Refugee service by clicking here.

ORLANDO, Fla. —

Though they were still students when the pandemic began, that didn’t stop hundreds of future nurses from making a difference.

When Delainey Dietz began nursing school at the University of Central Florida, she had no idea a global pandemic would soon disrupt the U.S. health care system.

Delainey was inspired to enroll by her mother, a nurse herself. She explained, "Seeing the connections that she made with her patients, and that really inspired me."

She was still a student when COVID-19 hit, but she still jumped at the chance to help, though she admits it was "definitely scary when it first started."

Delainey became one of hundreds of nursing students giving out the vaccine across central Florida, revealing that some people have even asked to be recorded while getting their shots.

"There's a lot of people who've been waiting a long time for this vaccine and have been very careful and very afraid to leave their houses," she noted.

They were observed by their instructors during their shifts, and their teachers were keenly aware that this was a make-or-break time for their students.

"They're in a pivotal point, where they really had a decision to make. Because when they started nursing school, this was not the reality," said clinical coordinator Kate Dorminy.

But Delainey said the experience has only strengthened her desire to be a nurse, saying, "I think, if anything, it's made a lot of us even more motivated to be nurses and to really make an impact in the health care field."

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Stitch brings you heartwarming stories from a community just like yours. It celebrates our hometown heroes and is inspired by communities, revitalized. Stitch is committed to honoring our history, celebrating our potential and highlighting the tales that bring us together. Every day, we are stitching together the American story.

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BOSTON —

With her husband in the hospital with COVID-19, Kerri Hurley felt helpless.

"To not be able to hug a loved one, or touch them, and think of the worst, like, ‘What if?’" she said. "Because he did go down very quickly. You think of these things and how they are so alone and just by themselves."

The closest Hurley could get to him was to sit under his window, which she did each night.

"I was able to walk up to the window and hold up the camera and show my daughter, who's 6 and doesn’t understand why daddy can't come home," she noted.

But the isolation was difficult for both of them, with Hurley explaining, "He knew that he wasn't doing so well, and he was scared."

Hurley's husband recovered physically, but she credits one doctor in particular for preserving his mental state: Dr. Ben Moor, who would stay by his bedside.

"I'd just kind of sit with them, chat or not chat and kind of hold a hand," Dr. Moor explained.

Once he became fully vaccinated, the doctor volunteered to spend time with patients after his shifts.

Hurley revealed that the doctor once called her to say her husband had a smile on his face, which she said "meant so much."

"I think it’s changed now that we've been vaccinated," Dr. Moor stated. "I think that puts people in a better frame of mind to do the things that are not wholly medical."

Along with Dr. Moor, dozens of staff members at his hospital donated time to lonely patients.

For Hurley and many others, these generous volunteers were a godsend.

"This program is so important, for not only me, but for millions of people who are waiting for their loved ones to call them and say, 'Hey, I’m OK,'" she explained.

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Stitch brings you heartwarming stories from a community just like yours. It celebrates our hometown heroes and is inspired by communities, revitalized. Stitch is committed to honoring our history, celebrating our potential and highlighting the tales that bring us together. Every day, we are stitching together the American story.

Want more stories like these? Follow Stitch on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

CINCINNATI — The pandemic presented a slew of problems for many people, but University of Cincinnati student volunteers at the Hearing Speech + Deaf Center of Greater Cincinnati found a way to make it work.

Jordan Klemt is a sophomore who has known for years that she wants to be a speech pathologist. Jayse Card is a freshman who learned American Sign Language in high school and fell in love with it.

Klemt and Card are two of the 18 UC students who volunteered at the Hearing Speech + Deaf Center of Greater Cincinnati. Usually, students meet with staff members at the center and shadow them to get some hands-on experience in the field, but the pandemic stopped that.

"I knew there was going to be less opportunity to shadow and volunteer," Card said.

"It's been extraordinarily challenging," Steve Wesselkamper, director of development and marketing at the center, said. "First of all, how do we stage this kind of volunteer experience in a virtual world?"

The students started using their social media and their internet skills to meet with people over services like Zoom.

"This has made me a believer in creativity and innovation," Wesselkamper said. "I can't wait to pick it up a year from now."

The center also allowed student volunteers to come in to the center for short visits, which last between 10 and 15 minutes. Even that short time has made all the difference though.

"Finally being able to come in and actually witness things is so exciting," Klemt said. "It's really exciting to finally get back into the groove of everything... It's not the same over Zoom."