This year, the Minority Health Conference was focused on “Body and Soul” to emphasize the importance of looking past just physical health and considering the mental and social wellbeing of the whole person when thinking about public health. Students learned about the history of public health activism along with current multi-faceted efforts.

“The UNC Minority Health Conference highlights those who put in the work to fight for health equity in underserved communities. This conference shed a light on the tremendous work that is being done and all that we can do to support our community,” said Sarina Abraham ‘21.

The two keynote speakers were Sharrelle Barber, a social epidemiologist who focuses on the intersection of “place, race, and health” along with the role of structural racism on health inequities in the Southern U.S. and Brazil, and Wizdom Powell, current director of the Health Disparities Institute and associate professor of psychiatry at UConn Health. Students who attended the conference also attended many poster and breakout sessions to enhance their experience and connect with others.

Deena Elrefai ‘22 shared that “the minority health conference was a great experience that allowed me to learn about the intersections of race, power, and health. I was also able to better reflect on the things I’ve learned in my courses at ������Ƶ.”

The Public Health Studies Department plans to increase student involvement with the Minority Health Conference in the coming years.

The North Carolina Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 is being led by Anissa Vines, assistant professor of epidemiology at the UNC- Chapel Hill Gillings School of Public Health, adjunct assistant professor of social medicine at UNC’s School of Medicine and faculty associate at the UNC Center for Health Equity Research, as well as Alan Richmond, executive director of Community-Campus Partnerships for Health at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute and Goldie Byrd, director of the Maya Angelou Center for Health Equity at the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

Stephanie Baker, assistant professor in the Public Health Studies Department at ������Ƶ, has been chosen to serve as an academic co-lead for the African American/ Black Community Response Team (CRT) to address COVID-19 in North Carolina. The Community Response Teams are one area of emphasis within a larger grant to support North Carolina’s I-Team (Increasing Trustworthiness through Engaged Action and Mobilization). Three CRT’s will be established: one focused on African American/ Black communities, one focused on Hispanic/ Latinx communities and one focused on American Indian communities in North Carolina, each with an academic co-lead and community co-lead.

Baker will work closely with community co-lead Kimberly Alexander, co-founder of The Alexander Group, a consulting firm that provides strategic consulting, technical assistance and project management rooted in values of equity, inclusion, and performance.

“Dr. Baker brings added strength to the CEAL NC research team with her expertise in community-based participatory research, health equity, and anti-racism work. She is a stand-out scholar leader who I am pleased to have lead along with her co-lead, Kimberly Alexander, efforts to increase trustworthiness of COVID-19 information in the Black/African American community,” shared CEAL lead principal investigator for NC Anissa I. Vines.

Together, the team will work with local organizations and community partners to address these health disparities and ensure equitable access to resources to fight the spread of COVID-19.

“I am really excited to work with this group to deeply address issues of trustworthiness and the ways in which institutions and structures contribute to lack of trust as it relates to COVID-19,” Baker shared. “This work will be collaborative and connect with key organizations, communities, and individuals already engaged in COVID-related responses.”

The cross-community approach of the Community Response Teams is something that Baker is particularly looking forward to. “Our communities have all been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 and there is power in working together,” she shared.

Carter Edwards ’20 was able to call upon the connections she made during her practicum experience as she faced canceled interviews, unfunded fellowships, and overall uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In January 2020, Edwards completed her practicum at The Green Heart Project, a farm-to-school nonprofit organization based in Charleston, S.C. The organization builds garden-based experiential learning opportunities to educate students, connect people, and cultivate community through growing, eating and celebrating food.

Edwards maintained connections with her supervisor and staff throughout spring semester. As instruction at ������Ƶ moved online in March, Edwards offered to volunteer with the organization during her free time. It was an offer that would translate into a job that will last until at least August 2021.

As part of a year of service through AmeriCorps VISTA, Edwards is now serving as the youth internship program coordinator for The Green Heart Project. In this role, she recently oversaw the commencement of a paid internship program for eight high school students in downtown Charleston. The program allows students to work at a “pay what you can” farm stand, , engage in lessons ranging from health and nutrition to financial literacy and civic engagement.

Edwards will be responsible this year for the growth of the program from eight students to 20. She eventually hopes to turn this summer internship into a year-round after-school employment opportunity for students, with a focus on employing those living below the poverty line.

In an update sent to the public health faculty, Edwards shared that she has often felt “overwhelmed and discouraged” with the climate change emergency, but through the work she has been doing and the inspiration that has come from the youth she works with, she has seen that “people-powered change inspires sustainable action every day.”