Furman University
EN-10: Community Partnerships

The IACH is uniquely positioned to improve the overall community health in Greenville. How do we harness the collective power of health care providers, public health experts, advocacy groups, and others to create communities that support the health of these children? Through the collection of patient data and broader indicators, we seek to collaborate with community partners to identify specific health outcomes that are targets for improvement. As part of The Furman Advantage, the Institute builds upon the classroom experience by facilitating collaborative projects that incorporate research and programs to drive community impact. Projects are derived in partnership with civic leaders and community organizations, matching Furman’s strengths with community needs. These efforts foster sustained partnerships and build trust among community leaders, organizations, and those who benefit from the work.

Summer fellows are paid for a full-time, 10-week position with a community partner. Partnerships and projects are reviewed annually and, provided that the partnerships continue to be mutually beneficial, fellowship positions with community organizations may be renewed indefinitely, providing a strong relationship and the opportunity to address more complicated issues. Partner organizations are chosen to represent all aspects of sustainability (social, economic, and ecological), providing a variety of student experiences while also addressing sustainability in a holistic way in our community. We work with at risk youth through Mill Village Farms and The Village Wrench, we work with homeless people through Project Host soup kitchen, and we work to make sure the needs of socioeconomically peoples are heard by local decision makers through our work with Feed & Seed. Currently, the fellowship program collaborates with 15 community partner organizations. Over the course of the program, we have hosted 96 summer fellowships with 27 distinct community partners.

- Envisioning Space and Place MayX – Vision report attached. Also presented to County Council in Spring of 2017. - United Way Focused Needs and Assets Assessment (150-page report) – delivered 4/15/17. o A study of 10 neighborhoods along the White Horse Corridor o Multiple students, faculty, and alumni involved. o Follow-up meetings with UW, their board, and community partners in progress - iMap – Collaboration between GHS, Furman, United Way, and Greenville County – released publicly June 2017 o A web-based map for finding community resources o Greenville County Wins Barrett Lawrimore Award for Representing “Best Qualities of Local Government”. August 2017. - Greenville Homeless Alliance – Assessment of data landscape. 47 page eport to delivered 8/15/17. o 4 Furman faculty, 2 post-bacs, and 2 students involved - 3 Community-Engaged Learning (CEL Student Fellows) in partnership with Computing in the Community (Computer Science) - Twelve CEL faculty fellows participated in a four-day August workshop aimed at incorporating more community-based work – through collaboration and partnerships – in their courses and research. The fellows cohort met three times during the fall semester. Outputs include guidelines for student experiences to be tagged as CEL. - Greer Chamber of Commerce – First Friday Luncheon (October 6, 2017): Mike Winiski was the featured guest speaker, discussing how GIS is being used to study demographic change, regional growth, land use change, transportation, and more. - Community GIS Projects: Rebuild Upstate, Furman Signs, Community Conservation Corps, Furman Refugee Task Force, Orange Bikes, Greer Police Department, and Greer Relief. - Faculty Handbook / Toolkit for CEL (Resources, Best Practices, FAQs) – in progress - Meal Ticket Program for community guests on campus - Carnegie Community Engagement Classification Investigation with CEL Faculty Fellows - CEL Staff have been attending community conferences and events: Opportunity Greenville (Chamber of Commerce), Leveraging Human Difference: A Diversity & Inclusion Summit, Habitat for Humanity of Greenville County "No Place Like Home" Event, Minority Enterprise Development (MED) Week, GHS Med Scholars Program. - St. Matthew Piedmont Health Assessment Project: IACH, CEL, Bob Jones, and St. Matthew Baptist Church are partnering to survey community members about their health and services they would like to see in their community. - Paratransit Project: CEL is partnering with Piedmont Health Foundation, Greenlink, Thrive Upstate, and Senior Action to explore options for a paratransit system in Greenville County. - Implicit Bias Training: Emilee O’Brien (post-bac) plans to offer workshops to 200 students in different organizations/settings throughout the fall semester. - Melanie led GIS Activity for students in the South Carolina Junior Academy of Sciences. - Mike will participate in DLI program this spring. - Shucker Fellows have partnered with New Washington Heights community for their Stay and Play program and other projects identified by the community. Kim Keefer can provide more detail.

President Davis was named to Greenville Business Magazine’s “50 Most Influential” people for 2017. The list honors the region’s most influential citizens, and the selection of the 50 individuals was based on staff research and community nominations. Davis was cited for her work in strengthening Furman’s ties with the local community. https://news.furman.edu/2018/01/04/impacting-the-community/