Elon University graduates have traditionally left Alamance County to begin their professional careers. But Elon’s new Community Impact Fellows Program, which launched June 2015, looks to develop the Elon-Alamance County partnership for the long term.
“Alamance needs Elon students to stay here,” said Catherine Palmer, one of the program’s fellows. “When you have graduates staying, they help support local food systems, schools and other things by paying their tax dollars to the county.”
Palmer is one of four Elon University Class of 2015 graduates in the thick of their one year of service to Alamance County through the program. She thinks the program’s timing couldn’t be better.
“It’s great being in this program because Alamance County is at an interesting point in its development,” Palmer said. “Historically we have been a very conservative community that hasn’t wanted much change, but now we are slowly starting to get a trend of younger people who are pushing for more healthy lifestyles.”
The fellows — Palmer, Hannah Allen, Shelby Smith and Maria Restuccio — are witnessing the county’s changes post-graduation while working with Healthy Alamance, Alamance Regional Medical Center, Alamance County Health Department and Impact Alamance, respectively.
The program covers their annual salaries and provides housing and health insurance. Additionally, those who enroll in a graduate school in North Carolina or become a full-time employee in Alamance or a neighboring county receive a year-end bonus to encourage fellows to stay nearby.
If the graduates are going to stay close, their contributions as fellows certainly will have played a role.
“The people we’re working with are very transparent about how they want us to stay here forever,” she said. “They’re looking for houses for us and new positions, and they want us to settle in here.”
Palmer is at Healthy Alamance, a public nonprofit focused on assessing the health of the community and improving the county’s ability to support healthy lifestyles. She’s helping the nonprofit with its community health assessment report, developing a new farmer’s market in Burlington and data collection.
“It’s been great so far,” she said. “It’s been an nice combination of real community work and outreach that involves moving on the ground and reaching out to people.”
Other participants were placed in different sectors across the county.
Allen partnered with Alamance Regional Medical Center, a nonprofit hospital located in Burlington. She has helped ARMC with writing grant proposals and working on community programming at educational events and health fairs.
“There’s been a lot of different things to do here,” she said. “But it’s important because this is a medically underserved county. Hopefully, programs like this will keep increasing at Elon.”
Smith is working with the Alamance County Health Department, where she has assisted with strategic planning for the Affordable Care Act, which begins its next open enrollment period in the county in November.
“A key piece for all of us has been really immersing ourselves in this new community and meeting people that are real change-makers,” she said. “Now we’re figuring out our role in the community and how we can help it.”
The four fellows, including Restuccio, who was unavailable for comment, are the first to experience this program and what it will provide for both Alamance County and Elon. Unlike other post-graduate service programs like Peace Corps and AmeriCorps, the Community Impact Fellows Program focuses specifically on progress in the county.
“I think of our Community Impact Fellows Program as a post-graduate, Peace Corp-like experience where recent graduates can practice their skills and knowledge as global citizens right here in our own backyard,” said President Leo Lambert during his annual address to faculty and staff in August, according to an E-Net article. “These young alumni are going to play a contributing role in improving health outcomes in our local community.”