Adriana Alvarez (she/her) is a first-year student in the UNC Asheville-UNC Gillings Master of Public Health Program. As a Community Fellow, she has been working with the Center for Native Health to conduct research for the creation of a support system for Indigenous mothers in Western North Carolina. This system would provide interventional opportunities through a 10-week education sessions and curriculum. 

Adriana is applying lessons from her Place-Based Research and Evaluation Methods course, specifically around amplifying stories. According to Adriana, it has been beneficial, “learning about it explicitly in [the course]and then doing it through the fellowship.”

Ryan Bostic (he/him) is a first-year student in the UNC Asheville-UNC Gillings Master of Public Health Program and a Graduate Assistant working with MPH Co-Director Sarah Thach. He is working with Partners Aligned Toward Health in Mitchell & Yancey Counties, making recommendations for their Home Remedies alternative pain management program, analyzing youth risk behavior trends, and observing the substance use task force's strategic planning process. For another initiative, he is researching models of academic health departments and preparing grants. He says, "The fact that I am learning by experiencing real, dynamic situations and projects is incredible. I feel very prepared for a career in public health and inspired by the work I see in progress in the community."

Albert Chow (he/him) is a first-year student in the UNC Asheville-UNC Gillings Master of Public Health Program. This spring, he is a Community Fellow with the NC Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) and is working with a team to develop a proposal for a Community Care Hub (CCH) and No Wrong Door (NWD) System in North Carolina. Both a CCH and NWD System would streamline resources used by communities–specifically older adults, people with disabilities, veterans, and caregivers–into a one-stop coordinated system to ease the process of finding support. Albert has been developing a long term timeline for both of these projects, as well as adapting past plans to fit their current model. He is learning about the best ways to involve users of CCH and NWD System in their development, along with how to navigate the role of state agencies and government representatives in the implementation of these community resources. Albert compared working on these projects to being an architect, saying “you want to know what you’re building and you want to know why you’re building it.”

Natalie Beach (she/her)Natalie Beach (she/her) is a first-year student in the UNC Asheville-UNC Gillings Master of Public Health Program. This spring, she has had the opportunity to work as a Community Fellow with WNC Health Network (WNCHN).  In her fellowship, she is contributing to various projects, including the development of an Environmental Justice Chapter in the Community Health Assessment Template. She is assisting in the creation of survey promotional materials to ensure a robust sample for the upcoming Community Health Assessment cycle.

She is also working on updating a social media calendar for health communicators in the region. Natalie has enjoyed learning more about nonprofit organizations and “how unique WNCHN is.”

Vanessa Howe (she/her) is a first-year student in the UNC Asheville-UNC Gillings Master of Public Health Program. This spring she is a Community Fellow with NC Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) WNC Health Policy Initiative (HPI). Vanessa has been planning events and preparing materials for the WNC Legislative Caucus that took place on March 15th and included topics such as Medicaid expansion and workforce needs in WNC.

 Vanessa also is working on the Women’s Health Awareness Conference in April, which will focus on providing healthcare opportunities for underserved and underrepresented women. She has had the opportunity to learn about the viewpoints of various stakeholders involved in these meetings and she reflects on that what “needs to be said louder, said more, said first” is really interesting.