Shaw University is partnering with Wake County Health and Human Services to implement a component of the Live Well Wake program to improve COVID-19 services in Wake County geared toward high-risk and traditionally underserved populations.
The program was made possible by a $38 million grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) awarded to Wake County Health and Human Services.
The Live Well Wake initiative brings together community-based organizations (i.e., United Way of the Greater Triangle and Southeastern Healthcare of N.C.) and local Historically Black Colleges and Universities (Shaw and St. Augustine’s University) to advance health equity, expand support for innovative approaches in addressing COVID-19, and obtain information to inform health equity decisions and evaluative designs for improving data collection and reporting activities, oriented toward reduction of health disparities among high-risk and underserved populations in Wake County communities.
Shaw University’s participants in the Live Well Wake Initiative represent the School of Arts, Science, and Humanities and the School of Divinity, and include: Dr. Valerie Johnson, Dean, and Professor of Sociology; Dr. MaNina McNeill, Department Head of Social Work, Sociology & Justice Studies; Dr. Shelby Palmer, Associate Professor of Psychology; Dr. Portia Rochelle, Part-Time Assistant Professor of Religion; and Dr. Dorothy C. Browne, Senior Research Scientist, Social Work, Sociology and Justice Studies. In addition, some students from the university also will assist in the program.
Dean Johnson said, “Shaw University is excited about its involvement in the Live Well Wake Initiative since it will provide critical resources to the most vulnerable communities in Wake County—and Shaw has historical relationships with many of them. We believe that providing data supportive of innovative approaches to COVID-19 will enhance policymakers and practitioners’ abilities to target areas and communities that will make a difference in reducing and alleviating health disparities.”
Beginning at the head of the table starting on the left going clockwise:
Dr. Portia Rochelle, Dr. Dorothy Browne, Dr. Shelby Palmer, Dr. MaNina McNeill and Dr. Valerie Ann Johnson.
