UNH Today

Mikaela Belanger ’26 knows better than most how dramatically life can change in the blink of an eye.

For years, she dreamed of saving enough to purchase her mother a house, only to wind up without a home herself when her mom abruptly kicked her out of the apartment they shared following a mental health episode almost exactly one year ago.

Just like that, she went from serving as her mother’s primary caretaker through a battle with cancer to facing off with her across a courtroom.

Already juggling a college course load and a full-time job, Belanger found herself suddenly adrift. She wasn’t sure how she would find housing or afford food, let alone stay enrolled in school.

“I had my car, my cat, and about half of my stuff,” Belanger says. “I basically felt like I had nowhere to go.”

The thing about those dramatic blink-of-an-eye changes, though, is they can swing for the better just as quickly as they do for the worse.

For the first time, Belanger – who had spent most of her 22 years taking care of the loved ones around her – faced the reality of being the one who needed care. She reached out to UNH for assistance, and the response, in her words, was “life changing.”

Almost immediately, she had a place to stay. She had access to food and other critical resources. Through UNH’s Student Basic Needs program, fueled in part by donor support and built to provide housing assistance, food, and financial help for students facing unexpected challenges, Belanger received a variety of help necessary to get her back on her feet.

The basic needs program quickly became “a lifeline,” Belanger says – she was placed in emergency housing through the Inn Between and was able to access food and toiletries from the Cats’ Cupboard on-campus food pantry and dining hall meals through the Swipe It Forward program. UNH also connected her to a lawyer, assisting her through the legal battle with her mother, and helped cover her car payment so she could continue working.

Now, barely a year later, she’s a straight-A student living on campus, a psychology and music double major working toward a career as a certified music therapist. She is slated to graduate next fall.

“I could not be more grateful. That support is the difference between me being able to graduate and me not being able to stay in school,” Belanger says. “I feel like this is the first time in my life I can actually see growth and healing. It’s been incredible to grow toward supporting myself. It’s proven to me how resilient I am. I don’t even know how to describe it; it’s such a beautiful feeling. I can feel myself healing.”

That growth and healing felt entirely unattainable a year ago. Belanger was enrolled in college courses and working full-time while also serving as the primary caretaker for her mother, who has struggled with mental health issues her whole life and was in the midst of a battle with cancer.

Her mother had what Belanger describes as a “mental health crisis,” throwing Belanger out of the apartment they shared. She claimed that Belanger had tried to hurt her and was stealing all of her financial assets, even though the apartment was in Belanger’s name – paid for with much of the money she had saved to attend UNH.

Belanger’s mother ultimately took her to court, with one court date overlapping with UNH finals last December. The court ultimately ruled in Belanger's favor, but it wasn’t until after the court settlement that Belanger was able to retrieve more of her personal items from the apartment.

Belanger, a first-generation college student – nobody else in her immediately family has graduated from high school, she says – was committed to completing her degree despite the turmoil, so she asked her boyfriend and some of her professors about potential resources available to students in need at UNH.

That’s how she got connected to Patty Mathison, basic needs coordinator in the UNH Dean of Students office, who Belanger describes as the primary reason she was “able to stay sane” throughout the ensuing process.

Mathison helped find space on campus for Belanger right away and also connected her to the TRIO Scholars program, which offers resources for first-generation college students. She also set her up with resources to help with food and financial support.

"I feel like this is the first time in my life I can actually see growth and healing. It’s been incredible to grow toward supporting myself. It’s proven to me how resilient I am."

“A lot of the initial connections were trying to get her as much support on- and off-campus as we could for her physical, mental, and financial needs,” Mathison says. “When we first started working together, Mikaela was very hesitant to ask for help – she was worried about being a burden and feeling like she had to figure everything out on her own. She had been taking on so much for so long and had endured more than anyone should have to experience, and that took a toll on her. Over time I have watched Mikaela grow in confidence and take time to heal and recognize her own strengths and abilities.”

Those abilities are numerous and diverse. Belanger can play seven instruments – piano, bass guitar, euphonium, trombone, flute, finger piano, and violin – and can sing, having grown up performing in church. Most of her instrument skills are self-taught, built on a combination of YouTube videos and method books.

Music has always been a huge part of Belanger’s life, and she says she couldn’t imagine pursuing a career that didn’t involve it somehow. But the challenges she went through also inspired her to pursue a profession that would allow her to help others, and since she’s a self-described waffler – “I can never make a decision,” she quips – she opted for the career path that combined the two passions in music therapy.

The fuel driving her to succeed in that pursuit comes from within. Despite singing throughout her life, her vocals floating through a five-octave range, she spent most of her 22 years feeling like she didn’t really have a voice.

“I want to talk to people and feel like I am giving them space to have a voice, because I feel like I never had that,” Belanger says. “It’s something I am working on now. Music is teaching me how to actually have a voice and to take up space, so I wanted both of those elements in my career.”

That such a career feels achievable is a testament to Belanger’s journey. She went from wondering where her next meal might come from to setting herself on a solid path to a profession she is passionate about in a little more than 12 months.

“From the moment I met Mikaela, I knew she was special, but it has been an absolute privilege to get to see her start to own her strengths and realize just how wonderful she is,” Mathison says. “I have such a deep respect and admiration for Mikaela. I think in many ways, UNH has provided Mikaela with a safe place where she can take the time to heal, she can grow into her own, and she can be surrounded by individuals who care and not only see but value her worth. I think UNH was exactly what she needed when she needed it.”

That sentiment is certainly echoed by Belanger. She credits UNH, Mathison, and the donors who help make basic needs support accessible to so many students with not only guiding her out of the most difficult time of her life, but with helping her find the courage to truly reach for her full potential.

“First and foremost, I would say thank you to those donors. They might not even know the full impact that a simple, small donation can have. Those resources allowed me to actually have a chance – without them, I wouldn’t be able to go to college, wouldn’t be able to continue in my career, wouldn’t even have a path or anywhere to go,” she says. “That support has literally changed my life. Because of it, I was able to go to college and have a chance to become something that I knew I was always capable of.”