By practicing targeted universalism, policymakers can aim specific strategies, such as social capital-based programming, at problems that plague marginalized groups to advance equity in COVID-19 economic recovery efforts.
…rural areas lose talent and economic potential. Brain drain may occur because of an actual or perceived lack of job opportunities in a region, the lack of opportunities for career…
Northeastern North Carolina faces clear economic challenges, including a notable lag in employment growth. Some unique assets are responding to the challenges in promising ways. The region’s Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) has several programs helping to prepare students for jobs that exist and create ones that do not. The university is ranked as the number one historically black college and university for economic mobility, partly because it is intentional about investing in its students in ways that promote the region.
Since the COVID pandemic began, the nation has experienced rapid growth in the number of adults experiencing anxiety or depression. In early 2021, CDC surveys revealed that these symptoms had increased by about 27 percent since 2019. In the wake of this rise, more people are talking about the importance of mental health. This growing acceptance and greater transparency have helped pave the way for more innovative solutions from both the public and private sectors.
Workforce shortages have been on the rise across the United States over the past year, as the COVID-19 pandemic shifted labor markets. Local solutions are emerging as communities collaborate on efforts to connect more people with jobs.
The agriculture industry is at risk as farmers experience issues related to increased rates of rainfall and droughts, and increased frequency of extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, which cause flooding and other hazards. All of these weather-related issues threaten to decrease crop yields, thus increasing economic losses and hardships for farmers. Many farmers find benefits of incorporating resilient agriculture techniques to mitigate these risks.
Nearly half of Americans, do not earn a living wage, which can be defined as the income necessary for a person or family to not only meet their basic needs, such as food and shelter, but also provide stability and financial independence needed for a good quality of life. Several restaurants and organizations in North Carolina are collaborating to pursue solutions in their industries.
As the state continues to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, communities face labor shortages as skill gaps and hiring challenges hinder the economic recovery. Fortunately, veterans returning to civilian life are searching for careers where they can use the skills they gained while in service, thus providing a potential solution to the shortage.
The opioid epidemic presents challenges for the state’s rural communities due to the limited resources and treatment options available in less populated areas. In some rural counties, people are more likely to experience an opioid overdose than a heart attack. Several collaboratives in rural communities across the state are pursuing innovative solutions to mitigate the opioid epidemic in their communities.
We support cohorts of communities working in tandem with our approach and sharing their experiences along the way in peer learning forums. As university partners, we design the process for individual teams to build collective capacity to address their challenge, facilitate the peer-learning forums, identify needs for and secure specific substantive or technical skills for individual teams or the entire cohort, support implementation of evidence-based strategies for addressing the challenge, and institute evaluation processes that each team executes. The lessons described are drawn from three projects: the Opioid Response Project (ORP), myFutureNC Local Educational Attainment Collaboratives, and Our State, Our Work: Connecting Young Adults with Their Future.
