Community Conversations held at DuBose Conference Center and Coalmont Community Center gave the community an opportunity to establish shared development goals for the South Cumberland Plateau. Sewanee and the South Cumberland Community Fund are using these conversations as guidance for their activities over the next months.
Foundation grant connects Sewanee and the community
According to Rayid Ghani, C'99, one of Sewanee’s assets for launching a public interest technology program is a strong relationship with the community. One example of that relationship is an initiative, supported by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund (Jacksonville, Florida), that allowed the University and the local community philanthropic organization, the South Cumberland Community Fund (SCCF), to work together to identify community priorities. The two organizations invited community members to attend “community conversations” that were held in two different locations (DuBose Conference Center and Coalmont Community Center). The discussions yielded a list of top priorities around health, education, and community and economic development. Community members hoped for expanded resources for substance abuse, better access to mental health care, more vocational training opportunities, and a focus on childhood literacy. Workforce development and strategies for expanding employment rounded out the ideas for economic development.
Those community conversations are now informing the work of the SCCF as well as the University, as it deploys student volunteers and VISTA members, some of whom may collect the data needed to build a data science program that addresses the public good. “As we consider how to move forward in terms of acting on information gathered through the Community Conversations sessions, we realize that there are many organizations on the plateau already addressing these issues,” says Nicky Hamilton, director of community development with the Office of Civic Engagement. “We look forward to partnering with the community to produce more favorable outcomes, and will be reaching out to the appropriate stakeholders. We are eager to collaborate!”
