Mid-Central AHEC Conducts Community Building Workshop for Gladwin County

MCRCSpringEnewsphotoCommunity Engagement continues to be a top priority for Mid-Central AHEC serving its region with community building workshops using the Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) approach. Executive Director Lisa Hadden has served as a faculty member of the ABCD Institute at DePaul University for over twenty years working in rural areas and urban core neighborhoods to assist neighbors in identifying and mobilizing community assets to improve their health.

On April 13th, the Mid-Central AHEC was invited to conduct an ABCD workshop for the members of the Gladwin County Leadership program. Both Lisa and the Mid-Central AHEC intern, Zahra Aljedher, hosted a three-hour grass roots community session on identifying and connecting community assets to improve quality of life in Gladwin County. Community leaders from multiple organizations participated in an introductory workshop followed by completing a capacity inventory and asset mapping exercises to strengthen their understanding of county resources and how these can be mobilized to address their needs.

The mission of the ABCD Institute is to build community capacity using a community participatory research approach coupled with Appreciative Inquiry to help community members achieve their own community building goals. The intent is not just in identifying the needs of a community, but to emphasize community assets and individual capacities to move a community towards accomplishing its initiatives through positive approaches.

In June of 2017, the Mid-Central AHEC sponsored Program Coordinator April Osburn as a new Fellow of the ABCD Institute. She was accepted and is currently completing her fellowship studies and training to eventually become a full fledged faculty member.

Mid-Central AHEC Expands Health Career Pipeline Program to Saginaw

The Mid-Central AHEC is pleased to announce the expansion of the Health Career Pipeline program. The Pipeline program currently is hosted through a partnership between the Mid-Central AHEC and the CMU College of Medicine. Over the last three years through a ten-week curriculum each fall, hundreds of students have participated in this very successful program with students from three local high schools along with undergraduate mentors from the CMU College of Health Professions, and medical students and managing the program with AHEC staff. This program will begin its fourth year this fall.

The program offers a ten-week course for students on wellness and healthy habits supported by exposure to many fields and disciplines of the healthcare industry. The course culminates with a graduation ceremony attended by friends and family members of each student.

In an effort to reach other areas of the AHEC region, the CMU College of Medicine submitted a grant to Huntington Bank in Saginaw that awarded $50,000 in funding for two years to replicate the successes of the program with students from Saginaw High Schools participating. This new initiative will begin in the spring of 2019 with a new feature of the program to include neighborhood leaders as volunteers to support student success in the curriculum.

AHEC staff members Lisa Hadden and April Osburn are excited to replicate this program in Saginaw with CMU medical students, neighborhood leaders, and inviting health professions students from SVSU to serve as mentors also.