The REACH Project is a nonprofit organization founded in 2017 by Max Gerall, an A&M undergrad whose friendship with a cafeteria worker led to his realization that the 3,000 contract service workers on campus were virtually unknown and unseen, but essential members of the community. They cook the meals, clean the dorms and classrooms, fix the toilets, and keep the campus beautifully maintained, yet they are poorly paid, anonymous, and their value unacknowledged.

Not a legislator, politician, or institutional administrator; what could he do to ameliorate the hardships workers endured because of their unsustainable wages? He realized that what he and other Aggie students did have were time, knowledge, and a commitment to selfless service. With those resources, he developed High Impact Service-learning Opportunities (HISOs), a platform that provides mutually beneficial engagements between students and the service workforce. HISO’s leverage student knowledge critical to the workforce in overcoming multigenerational poverty, while offering students opportunities for experiential learning, soft skill development, and relationships that instill and nurture empathy for a life of service,

REACH kicked off its first programs in 2018, in response to the expressed need of the uninsured workforce for healthcare. Staffed by students from the Health Sciences Center, REACH hosted pop-up clinics and Health & Wellness Fairs on campus. In 2018 and 2019, more than 400 workers and their families attended these events. At the same time, REACH was helping students create their own AgsREACH organization, working with BUILD on the design and construction of its free health clinic (generously funded by a Strategic Philanthropy Grant) and the development of its lifelong learning, personal finance, and homeownership programs.

Early in 2020, COVID-19 came to Texas A&M.  As the campus emptied out, service workers were laid off and furloughed. REACH pivoted and implemented its COVID Emergency Response. Over the course of the next 12 months, approximately 700 families were served 200,000 pounds of produce, 40,000 locally sourced restaurant meals, 7,500 USDA Meal Boxes, and 6,000 pounds of frozen meat, by 240 student volunteers. REACH initiated opening on campus Warming Centers, and drive-thru health clinics.

In the second half of 2020, REACH delivered its first courses in finance, ESL, and homeownership. Since then, the number of participants doubled each course offering (with a 98% retention rate), as has the number of student volunteers and interns. Today, more than 300 students representing 28 different majors regularly serve more than 800 families by providing access to food and healthcare, including vision, dental, and breast health clinics, food-producing home gardening, pet Vet clinics, as well as Everyday ESL, and the REACH Journey Home. Three participants have become homeowners; 7 more have qualified.

The REACH Board of Directors is a small but dedicated and hard-working team of founding members and community leaders. As the organization continues to grow, so too does its board, increasing its capacity to accomplish its goals.