We took a little breather to plan and recover from an incredible 2022 SOAR Summit. On the eve of a week to feast and give thanks, we felt there wasn’t a better time to relaunch our weekly roundup.
Pardon the Thanksgiving pun, but let’s dig in!
MSU receives healthcare workforce grant
It is no question that there is a major healthcare workforce shortage.
In response to that, the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) launched the Healthcare Workforce Collaborative (HWC) to gift $8 million in grants to Kentucky’s public two-year and four-year colleges and universities.
Morehead State University was among the universities that received grant funding of nearly $300,000.
Morehead State officials said they would use the funds to increase enrollment in the University’s nursing and imaging sciences programs while building more clinical sites, which can lessen student travel and help with financial barriers.
“We are pleased to work with CPE on creating a stronger pipeline of healthcare graduates from Morehead State and we believe that this grant will assist significantly,” said MSU President Dr. Jay Morgan.
Dr. Christopher Beckham, who works with special projects and strategic initiatives, said the plan revolves around four key areas:
- Expansion of clinical sites for healthcare students.
- Support for faculty acquisition and retention for key healthcare areas.
- Wrap-around support for faculty, staff, and students.
- Expansion of educational pipelines for secondary and post-secondary students to enter healthcare education programs.
Making their pitch
CEDAR’s mission ties directly back into our SOAR Blueprint, with entrepreneurship in a digital economy being front and center with the Entrepreneurial Community Improvement Program. Teams from high schools across the region competed in a series of pitch competitions. These students were to identify a problem within their communities and then develop a business or non-profit model to help solve that problem.
Members of our team, Client Success Coordinator LaTasha Friend and Digital Strategy Coordinator Kristin Norman, had the opportunity to judge four CEDAR E-CIP (Community Improvement Program) Challenges across the region. The top three teams from each event will come together on December 9th in Pikeville for the Regional Challenge.
Four teams competed in the CEDAR Pitch competition at the SKCTC Harlan Campus.
LaTasha shared her thoughts on the incredible students: “That was a great day of learning, growth, and inspiration to pursue the vision the students have cast for their E-CIP project. Students were allowed 6 minutes to pitch their idea to the judges and then have four minutes of Q & A.”
We wish all teams the best of luck!
Reclaiming Recovery
The first-ever Reclaiming Recovery Conference was held in Louisville on November 15-16.
The event was presented by SOAR East Kentucky Partner Addiction Recovery Care (ARC) and The Healing Place.
Operation UNITE served as the education provider for the event.
The conference attracted social workers and other professionals from across Kentucky and southern Indiana.
ARC has been nationally-recognized for its Crisis to Career model. ARC is based in Louisa and has more than 1,000 employees. More than half of those employees are in recovery. Aside from this, ARC has opened several social enterprises, including Second Chance Auto and Second Chance Lawn Care.
We partnered with ARC, the Eastern Kentucky Concentrated Employment Program, Inc. (EKCEP), Operation UNITE, and Sullivan University to create the state’s first Peer Support Academy. The idea started a movement of Peer Support Specialists across Eastern Kentucky and beyond. These credentialed professionals are meeting those in addiction in emergency rooms, courts, jails, etc. to provide a pathway – and support – to recovery.
Digital Equity in Jackson and Owsley counties
On November 10, Peoples Rural Telephone Cooperative partnered with our new Office of Digital Equity to host a community outreach meeting.
More than 20 attendees from school districts, public libraries, community action agencies, adult education, and nonprofits in Jackson and Owsley counties learned of our new programming to bring greater awareness to the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP).
Our work is not only about connecting people.
It is about getting to know our clients and working to help them leverage connectivity to improve their quality of life.
That could mean obtaining a GED, job training, remote employment, a college education, using telehealth etc.
Want to learn more about our Digitial Equity efforts? Click HERE.