By Alexandra Brewer | Arts & Life Writer
For many out-of-state Baylor families, the hardest part of sending a student to college isn’t the distance — it’s the feeling of being completely on their own in a new place. That gap is exactly what Becky DeGracia, founder of Mama Bear College Mom, set out to bridge.
“We were out-of-state parents when our oldest came to Baylor and didn’t know anybody in the area, and it was just really hard to navigate the community aspect of it, like outside of Baylor and just finding resources … and building our own community,” DeGracia said. “Sometimes, especially when you move off campus, you just need a little bit extra.”
DeGracia, also known as Mama Bear College Mom, officially launched in 2021 after DeGracia realized her family wasn’t alone.
“When she was going into her senior year, we moved here in 2020 and just naturally started serving other students and realized that the feelings we had weren’t just us; other people are in the same boat,” she said.
DeGracia also leveraged online parent groups, which solidified the reality that it wasn’t just something her family was facing.
“It’s really easy to feel isolated in that,” she said. “I got so many responses from people just like, ‘Yes, please stay in touch.’”
The company offers a range of innovative services that serve similarly to a concierge for college students and their parents.
“For the student, it’s anything they would ask their mom for, but I’m a local mom, and they’re all out of state,” DeGracia said.
Her services run the full spectrum: airport rides, community connections, care-package delivery and more. She recently launched the beta release of a Trader Joe’s shopping service, where she will do all the shopping and deliver it straight to students so they don’t have to worry about going to the store.
She said she also recently partnered with Storage Squad, pairing their storage system with her company’s personalized communication and hands-on help.
“I’ve loved her care packages. She does them for finals, or just a random kind of check-in, and it’ll be your favorite treats and snacks, like HTeaO,” Raleigh, N.C., senior Taylor Binford said. “She’s also gone to the doctor with me so many times. Because I’m from North Carolina, my parents couldn’t come in when I was really sick.”
Beyond rides, care packages and doctor visits, Becky’s presence made a meaningful difference in students’ mental and emotional adjustment. Taylor said that the impact became especially clear during the period when she was thinking about transferring schools.
“I actually wanted to transfer out of Baylor, potentially, and I tell everybody that I meet that Becky is one of the reasons why I stayed,” Binford said. “I was just so homesick and missed my family… But Becky was like, ‘Come over for dinner, come to church with me.’”
Other students and recent alumni remarked on the same warmth and genuine care that made Waco feel more like home to them.
“I thought she was seriously the greatest ever,” 2025 Baylor alumnus Lachlan McGregor said. “She was super welcoming. I felt like I already knew her the first time I met her. I could tell that she genuinely had a big passion for what she did, and that that mattered the most to me.”
Feedback from parents and students, she says, has been overwhelmingly positive.
“For parents, it’s just peace of mind that there is a person that they know and can talk to,” DeGracia said. “ I think students just really feel loved and seen, because it’s a very personal service. We call them by name. We can offer to pray for them. If they’re sick, we can bring stuff to them.”
For many students, that kind of support is unforgettable.
“I would feel uncomfortable not recommending her to anybody,” McGregor said.
For DeGracia, the journey has been guided by faith and purpose.
“God gave me this idea, so I just felt like, well, when God closes the door, then the adventure is over and it’s OK,” she said.
To learn more about Mama Bear College Mom and the services that she offers, visit her website here.
