Community Health & Environmental Reawakening

描述(由申请人提供) 社区健康和环境复兴(CHER)的长期目标是通过支持基层领导和社区赋权来改善南部农村的环境健康。南方与世隔绝的农村地区贫困和失业率很高。污染行业可能会被吸引到这些地区，因为家庭农业的下降，低地价，低工资，以及缺乏政治影响力。该项目旨在通过促进非洲裔美国农村人成为研究伙伴、参与社区教育和围绕环境健康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。该项目的中心是一个强大的基层社区组织，该组织成立于1978年，位于北卡罗来纳州哈利法克斯县的关心耕种公民组织(CCT)。2000年，哈利法克斯公司的人口中52.6%是非裔美国人，其中33.7%生活在贫困中；CCT的300名活跃的当地会员中99%是非裔美国人。1987年，CCT组织了全区健康委员会(AWHC)，与东卡罗来纳州医学院的医疗提供者合作，向以非裔美国人为主的社区提供医疗服务。CHER将CCT、AWHC和北卡罗来纳大学(UNC)公共卫生学院的环境健康科学家聚集在一起，1)扩大东部NC公民和卫生专业人员的环境健康知识，2)增加当地对环境健康问题的预防和补救的参与，3)在整个NC范围内向环境正义团体提供教育和外联，4)提高医疗保健提供者应对农村非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专业的学生提供农村环境健康和环境正义问题方面的实践学习。这些目标将通过伙伴组织在教育、外联和联网方面的合作；蒂勒里人民诊所；以及为期一学期的研究生课程--社区驱动的流行病学和环境正义--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.