The Community Practice Lab engaged in a wide variety of academic and community events, workshops, trainings, and presentations in fall semester 2023.
Leadership of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s annual summit
The Community Practice Lab (CPL) facilitated organization-wide planning around community engagement and empowerment at Habitat for Humanity of Orange County‘s 2023 annual summit. The day-long workshop, led by CPL Primary Lead Dr. Ryan Lavalley and CPL’s Community Engagement Team, guided Habitat staff in processes of building social cohesion, engaging in collective action, and mapping power relations. Learn more about this summit.
Workshop facilitation for Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity
Ryan and CPL Lead Housing Fellow Leiha Edmonds worked with the Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity in a day-long workshop to support their developing home repair collaborative. Participants mapped out partnership roles, explored questions of access and marginalization, and built infrastructure for a home repair network database. Learn more about this workshop.
Connection with Carolina Center for Public Service’s Community Engagement Fellow
Ryan connected with Alexandria Reimold, a community engagement fellow with the Carolina Center for Public Service at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Community engagement fellows develop and implement engagement or engaged scholarship projects that are responsive to community priorities and have an academic connection. Alexandria’s project is a qualitative exploration of how low-income communities utilize dollar stores as food retailers. In their meeting, Ryan and Alexandria discussed strategies for funding this type of research with consideration to current funding mechanisms and research foci of major funders.
Workshop facilitation with Health Behavior Students at UNC-CH
CPL Aging Fellow Kendra Oliver-Derry co-led a workshop with MCJC Education Director Aisha Booze-Hall (pictured) for Health Behavior students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The workshop focused on the history of the Marian Cheek Jackson Center and discussed different ways to navigate community-building between an established community and students. Students reflected on their definitions of community, their previous knowledge of the historically Black neighborhoods in Chapel Hill, and how they plan to use what they learned in the workshop to build community with neighbors on and off campus.
Leadership of Indicators and Target Setting Workshop with the Orange County Department on Aging and the County’s Master Aging Plan
Leiha led a workshop for the Orange County Master Aging Plan‘s Community Supports and Health Services Workgroup. The workshop focused on opportunities to set clear goals and track progress on the cross county multi-partner plan, including ways to use data to measure success and increase collaboration to support a more age-friendly region.
Panel presentation at Society for the Study of Occupation, USA annual conference
Ryan, CPL Community Engagement Fellow Sayoko Kawabata, and Dr. Jenny Womack presented a panel at the Society for the Study of Occupation, USA (SSO:USA) annual conference in St. Louis on October 20, 2023. The panel, titled “Oral Histories: Advancing Research in Occupational Science,” explored oral histories as a method for studying community occupation. The panel included examples grounded in community experience, including collecting oral histories in Fairview to inform community engagement and programming; centering of community oral histories and goals in the Marian Cheek Jackson Center‘s mission and work; and development of Habitat for Humanity of Orange County’s Crescent Magnolia to address community-expressed needs for affordable housing for older adults.
Presentation at statewide Habitat for Humanity of North Carolina annual conference
CPL Community Program Implementation Specialist Kevin Giff presented at the statewide Habitat for Humanity NC conference (Camp Habitat) on October 20, 2023. Kevin co-presented with Logan McVey, project manager with Habitat for Humanity of Orange County. Kevin and Logan discussed lessons in community engagement, including a yearlong learning process with community consultants with lived experience to gain a deeper understanding of Habitat’s presence, role, and approach in support community goals and interest. They also shared the Engage: Neighborhood Engagement Strategic Plan, a result of these efforts that will guide Habitat’s future community engagement.
Keynote address at Turkish Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation conference
Ryan delivered the keynote address for the Turkish Occupational Therapy and Rehabilitation Conference on October 25, 2023. In the keynote presentation, Ryan discussed how occupational therapy can contribute to community practice in a variety of contexts. Ryan highlighted how theory and programs rooted in community occupational therapy have been emerging in the United States and specifically at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Learn more and view the entire keynote address.
Community engagement at Fairview Oktoberfest
The CPL Community Engagement Team participated in the Fairview Oktoberfest on October 28, 2023. Throughout the process, Sayoko and Kevin engaged with Fairview Community Watch, an active group of resident leaders involved in many community-building efforts in the historically Black neighborhood of Fairview. Sayoko and Kevin also supported Habitat for Humanity of Orange County by working to foster new connections with neighbors within the Fairview community.
National webinar presentation for Administration of Community Living
Ryan and Leiha presented a national webinar for the Administration of Community Living (ACL). The webinar, titled “Expanding Home Accessibility Services: Strategies for Sustaining Cross-Sector Collaborations,” was presented for the ACL’s Housing and Services Resource Center. In the webinar, Lavalley and Edmonds offered best practices and resources for home accessibility partnerships, drawing on the Orange County Home Preservation Coalition as a model. Learn more about this webinar.
Presentation at HOPE NC’s Inclusive Housing Summit
Kevin presented at HOPE NC’s second annual Inclusive Housing Summit on November 13, 2023. In North Carolina, opportunities for older adults and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live in affordable, diverse, and inclusive communities are nearly non-existent. HOPE NC’s IDEAL communities initiative brings together a diverse group of public, private, non-profit stakeholders and self-advocates to advocate for policy change as well as to build a model IDEAL community here in the Triangle. The presentation, titled “IDEAL communities: Bringing stakeholders together to create inclusive communities,” detailed HOPE NC’s approach, initial outcomes, goals, and opportunities for engagement.
Community engagement at Marian Cheek Jackson Center’s holiday party
CPL staff attended the Marian Cheek Jackson Center‘s annual holiday party in December. The Jackson Center centers celebration as a way of being that is fundamental to joy, abundance, and community. We were honored to engage in celebration alongside the Jackson Center, the Northside community, and many of our community partners.