Community Health & Environmental Reawakening

描述（由申请人提供） 社区卫生和环境觉醒的长期目标是通过支持基层领导和社区赋权，改善南部农村的环境卫生。 南方偏远的农村地区贫穷和失业率很高。 由于家庭农业的减少、低土地价格、低工资和缺乏政治影响力，污染工业可能会被吸引到这些地区。 该项目旨在通过促进农村非洲裔美国人成为研究伙伴、参与社区教育和围绕环境卫生问题组织起来的技术和政治能力，对不公正的环境污染模式产生长期影响。 该项目以一个强大的基层社区组织为中心，该组织成立于1978年，位于北卡罗来纳州哈利法克斯县的Tillery关心公民组织（CCT）。 2000年，哈利法克斯公司的人口中有52.6%是非洲裔美国人，其中33.7%生活在贫困中; CCT的300名活跃的当地成员中有99%是非洲裔美国人。 1987年，CCT与东卡罗莱纳医学院的医疗服务提供者合作，组织了地区卫生委员会，向主要是非洲裔美国人的社区提供医疗服务。 CHER汇集了CCT，AWHC和来自北卡罗来纳州（北卡罗来纳州）公共卫生学院的环境卫生科学家，1）扩大东北卡罗来纳州公民和卫生专业人员的环境卫生知识，2）增加当地参与预防和环境卫生问题的补救，3）为整个北卡罗来纳州的环境正义团体提供教育和宣传，4）提高医疗服务提供者应对农村非洲裔美国人环境健康问题的能力，5）为公共卫生，医学和相关健康科学的学生提供农村环境健康和环境正义问题的实践学习。 这些目标将通过与教育、外联和联网方面的伙伴组织、Tillery人民诊所以及一个为期一学期的研究生课程-社区推动的流行病学和环境正义-的合作来实现。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant) The long-term objective of Community Health and Environmental Reawakening (CHER) is to improve environmental health in the rural South by supporting grassroots leadership and community empowerment. Isolated rural areas of the South have high levels of poverty and unemployment. Polluting industries may be attracted to these areas because of the decline in family farming, low land prices, low wages, and lack of political influence. This project seeks to make a long-term impact on unjust patterns of environmental contamination by facilitating technical and political capacities of rural African-Americans to be partners in research, to engage in community education, and to organize around environmental health issues. The project is centered on a strong grassroots community organization that was founded in 1978, the Concerned Citizens of Tillery (CCT), in Halifax County, North Carolina (NC). In 2000, the population of Halifax Co. was 52.6% African-American, 33.7% of whom live in poverty; CCT's 300 active local membership is 99% African-American. In 1987 CCT organized the Area Wide Health Committee (AWHC) to provide medical care to predominantly African-American communities in partnership with medical providers from East Carolina Medical School. CHER brings together CCT, AWHC, and environmental health scientists from the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Public Health to, 1) expand environmental health knowledge of eastern NC citizens and health professionals, 2) increase local participation in prevention and remediation of environmental health problems, 3) provide education and outreach to environmental justice groups throughout NC, 4) increase the capacity of medical care providers to respond to environmental health problems of rural African-Americans, and 5) offer practice-based learning in rural environmental health and environmental justice issues to students in public health, medicine and allied health sciences. These aims will be accomplished through collaboration of the partner organizations in education, outreach and networking; the Tillery People's Clinic; and a graduate-level semester-long course, Community-driven Epidemiology and Environmental Justice.