Starting college can be a difficult change, not only for students but also for the families they leave behind. Jasmine Ortiz's daughter is one of these students who headed off to college earlier this year.
Ortiz's daughter leaving for school was what sparked the idea to create the Campus Titi — a resource that creates and delivers care packages to students at ASU and NAU from their loved ones.
Ortiz began joining parent groups on social media, where she realized there were many other parents struggling with their children being far away. In an effort to help these parents support their children at a distance, she started Campus Titi.
Titi is a Puerto Rican term for "auntie." Ortiz chose to use titi in her business's name to stay connected and honor her culture and heritage.
"Part of the vision for this business was ... to be that stand-in family member in the absence of those biological family members," Ortiz said.
Ortiz said in Puerto Rican culture, the term is not reserved for biological relatives, but for anyone who shows up with care and guidance — the same way she aims to show up for students.
She spends a large portion of time planning out what she wants to include in each care package, which changes constantly and depends on the needs in the community.
She has created a variety of packages with different themes, including a Fall Fun Package and a Welcome/Thinking of You package.
As cold temperatures begin, Ortiz has added to her Linktree new cold and flu buster packages, which include Tylenol, Nyquil, cough drops and even soup.
The idea of creating this care package came as a joint effort from Ortiz and her daughter Rihanna Pfaff. Pfaff as a student at NAU, has heard many other students talking about how awful it is to get sick in college.
On the parental side, Ortiz would read concerns from parents on social media regarding their sick children and how they are not able to leave their home to buy themselves medicine.
Another thing the Campus Titi emphasizes is promoting other small businesses by including their products in packages. Pfaff said that turning to local businesses has always been important to their family.
"She (Ortiz) just realizes how important it is to have people that support you in that endeavor, but I think that we're the kind of people who can think of anybody as family," Pfaff said.
Pfaff once received one of these care packages from family outside of her mother.
"When I opened the card, and I saw that it was from my other family members, I almost started crying," Pfaff said. "I thought it was really, really kind, and I really appreciated it."
Pfaff said she believes the care packages present students with an opportunity to carry a piece of home with them at all times, without hyper-focusing on it or the opposite — losing sight of it completely.
Moreover, Pfaff said it also gives students the feeling of support and love that is empowering. Being away from her family was especially difficult because she often wondered if they missed and thought about her as much as she did.
"Just knowing that even though you're not at home, they still care about you ... they're still thinking about you and they still love you. That really makes a difference in the college life," she said.
Kali Robinson is a parent who has utilized the Campus Titi to send a care package to her son Alexander, a freshman on the Tempe campus at ASU. Robinson came across the Campus Titi's page in an Arizona college parents group.
Robinson wanted to surprise her son and remind Alexander how much she cares, by sending a package.
"I have all of my kids in three different states, so we meet them where they are, "she said. "Things like that (Campus Titi) helps us build connections."
Pfaff said she admires her mother for devoting herself to the Campus Titi and its mission. She also said it is very much like her mother to want to support other kids in college and ensure that other parents can show their love in the same way she does.
Ortiz said the feeling she hopes to give students through each package, summed up in one word, is "presence." She wants students to know that somebody is there for them.
Ortiz said there is potential for the business, and she hopes to expand Campus Titi in the future and be able to support more college students.
"If we can be part of that student's journey in some form or fashion, have made even one day, one moment, a little bit easier, a little bit lighter," Ortiz said. "That, to me, is success."
Edited by Natalia Rodriguez, George Headley and Ellis Preston.
Reach the reporter at dkovalen@asu.edu.
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Diana is in her first semester with The State Press and second semester at the Cronkite School, pursuing a degree in Journalism and Mass Communication with a minor in political science.
