The transition from high school to university can be a stressful one.

Increased workloads, new social pressures and higher difficulty levels combined with living away from home can wear on any student.

For Tina Chan, these stresses were apparent when she moved from her home in Oshawa to attend the University of Waterloo.

Her familiar support network and coping mechanisms were suddenly unavailable as she was thrust into a new environment.

It was this experience that prompted Chan to enter a pitch competition at the university in 2015.

The competition required a business model for dealing with a social issue.

PASS Inc. was born the following year.

The acronym stands for panic, anxiety and stress support, and takes the form of small kits to help students cope.

Each kit contains eye masks, ear plugs, stress balls, gum and playing cards with tips and coping mechanisms, resources and handouts.

Chan identified a need for such kits at her campus.

“The concept of a first aid kit for trauma, for example a papercut and scrapes, is very, very prevalent, there’s one kit in almost every building on campus,” she said.

Mental health first aid, on the other hand, doesn’t offer the same support just yet, Chan said.

The university apparently sees the need for such resources, too.

It has purchased 7,100 kits so that this year, each first year student will receive one of the kits in their orientation bag.

Chan believes her product really helps because of its placement—instead of an orientation water bottle or stack of papers, she’s supplying a kit that people experiencing symptoms can utilize.

The good work doesn’t stop there.

With a tight deadline to put together thousands of kits, Chan has contracted KW Habilitation to help.

KW Habilitation is an organization that helps children and adults with developmental disabilities.

Chan has reached an agreement to employ members through the organization, who earn minimum wage for their work.

“When Tina approached us and PASS approached us, what they really wanted to focus on was the idea of employing people for competitive rates and doing competitive jobs,” said William Candlish with KW Habilitation.

Previously, Candlish said, these contracts were often very low-paying.

The PASS kits are also available online for purchase.