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.
The Triangle region has seen housing and apartment prices rise dramatically. The main strategy municipalities are using to address these issues is the Missing Middle Model for housing, which can be defined as “a range of house-scaled buildings with multiple units – compatible in scale and form with detached single-family homes – located in a walkable neighborhood.” Increased housing options are necessary to meet the demand and ensure affordable housing is available for the region’s residents.
Childhood trauma occurs when children experience adverse events. The COVID-19 pandemic may be an adverse event and it could also exacerbate other stressors that existed previously. Trainings provided by Resilient Columbus and the North Carolina Resilience in Learning Project seek to help children and adults deal with trauma they experienced using healthy strategies.
Aging in place refers to an older adult’s desire to stay in their own home or community as they grow older. However, a number of issues associated with growing older make it difficult for many senior adults to age in place. Organizations in Buncombe and Forsyth counties collaborate to make it possible for more senior adults to age in place.
Data from the Kaiser Family Foundation indicates Black women are three times more likely to die from pregnancy or birth complications when compared to white women. Groups collaborating in Durham and the Sandhills region draw on community resources and programs to improve the health and wellbeing of Black mothers and their children.
School safety encompasses a number of issues, such as student mental health, peer-to-peer interactions and bullying, and the physical safety of students while they are at school. Gates County is one of three rural counties (including Duplin and Stanly) partnering with RTI International on their All Hands on Deck program. Henderson County partners implemented a new safety plan to enhance both the physical safety of students in the schools and their mental and emotional health.
The abrupt shift to online learning in March 2020 meant many children were not able to have the full educational experience they would have otherwise had in person, which led to decreased retention of educational material across the board. Programs offered statewide and in local communities like Alamance and Craven counties seek to help students recover from various forms of learning loss.
