Starting college can feel like a leap of faith for students and parents.

Feelings of excitement, worry, and loneliness can be a bit overwhelming in this next chapter.

That's where mindyKNOWS steps in.

It's a caregiving service started by St.

Louis native and social worker Mindy Horwitz.

It connects college students far away from home with trusted and local support.

Was there a personal experience that made you realize that this service was needed?

So I am a mom.

I have three children who are now grown.

And my oldest son went to Wash U in St.

Louis.

And when he was my first son and I immediately joined the Facebook group for out of town families, for parents.

And I got on this group and I would see everything that the out of town families needed.

And I realized very quickly that as a local person in a place where many people are from very far away, that there was an opportunity to help.

So that's where the idea was born.

It started out with just Mindy providing this service, and later grew after the need increased, with moms and other parents becoming what she calls "Campus Mindys."

It sort of works.

I'm able to cover a lot of it, but I do have a wonderful team of people that help when need be.

Her team now spans across 10 different universities in the country, connecting students with local parents to help navigate their new environments.

What's really hard for a parent from afar is much easier for me as a local person.

Like we know this town.

You know, I know who good providers are.

I know some pitfalls.

I am sort of well aware of of what our resources are here.

So it's very, very fulfilling to be able to help people.

Handling deliveries, helping students find resources, and making care packages isn't the only thing a local mom can do.

It's also being that emotional and mental support in challenging times.

I had a student in her first year, it was literally in September of her first year of school, she was probably 18 years old.

And she went to the doctor and they sent her to the ER.

And she was in the ER and nobody, her parents weren't able to easily travel here because it was COVID time.

I would go, I would, I would reach out to her every morning and text her and say, "Hey, what are you in the mood for today?"

We didn't know how long she was going to be in the hospital.

But I was able to go in there and just visit with her when her parents couldn't be there.

And it was scary.

I mean, it was a scary time for her.

So we weren't really able to help during a very difficult time in that.

For Mindy, it's not just business.

It's her way of building a bridge between home and independence for young adults and making the mental load of parents a little lighter.

I believe so firmly in what we're doing.

I am hoping that we can have Mindy's everywhere in lots of campuses.

I know how important moms are and I think that if we could get moms in many places that are able to step in when your biological mother or the mother that raised you isn't able to, I hope that we can do that in many spots.