Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC)
Grant
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Overview
description
The mission of the Center for Urban Responses to Environmental Stressors (CURES) is to enhance the well- being of residents affected by chemical and nonchemical stressors in the Detroit metropolitan area. CURES has developed a highly effective Community Outreach and Engagement Core (COEC). The COEC has established several practices, including 1) creating and operating a Community Advisory Board (CAB), in which leadership of the CAB is shared between the COEC Co-Leaders and CAB member co-chairs; 2) providing forums that enhance bi-directional communication between CURES researchers and community members; 3) initializing advocacy dialogue with community members and, through integration with the Wayne State University Environmental Law Clinic, preparing for more intensive advocacy training; 4) integrating COEC activities with all of the CURES cores; and 5) using our website, YouTube video production, and newsletter to broaden the reach of CURES activities. The COEC is instrumental in achieving CURES short term goals, including strengthening existing partnerships and continuing to develop new partnerships between CURES and the Detroit community and, in collaboration with partners, identifying the chief environmental health threats to Detroit's vulnerable populations. The COEC is also instrumental in achieving the long-term goals of CURES including enhancing our community partners' efforts to increase community awareness and facilitate programs for a healthier community and developing appropriate strategies, based on CURES research, to inform policy so as to mitigate the risks associated with urban environmental exposures. To meet the short and long term goals of CURES under this project, the COEC will work under four Specific Aims: 1) Enhance the environmental health knowledge of our CAB of professionals and lay persons dedicated to improving the health of our urban population; 2) Provide at least 130 educational forums and spin-off “grassroots” sessions highlighting the main research themes of CURES investigators that intersect with the main interests of the community; 3) Enhance community participation in research; and 4) To eliminate the sources of health disparities, provide advocacy training to empower CAB members and Detroit residents to influence policymakers.
