Throughout history, we see many examples of individuals working together with a common purpose to achieve a common goal. Events such as the Civil Rights movement, Louis Vuitton and Virgil Abloh, and David Bowie and Freddie Mercury in the creation of the song Under Pressure are all products of collaboration that have left their impactful mark in history. Collaboration involves sharing resources, knowledge, and responsibilities to jointly plan, implement, and evaluate outcomes to achieve common goals. We must collaborate because the process can result in an accomplished shared vision, achievement of positive outcomes for individuals served, and the development and use of interdependent systems to address issues and opportunities. In the workplace, collaboration is a sign of an effective team considering the ideas, skills, experiences, and opinions as it harnesses the best out of two or more individuals. Being a Public Health major, I have come to value collaboration for its properties presented in courses that have led to lasting impacts on communities and the individuals within them. My experience as a Public Health student and an intern for the Office of the Mayor has exemplified how collaboration empowers me, individuals I collaborate with, and the citizens of communities I serve.  

​

My Public Health courses, PUBH 102: Intro to Public Health and HPEB 553: Community Health Problems have been two courses that sparked a desire to understand and practice collaboration. In these courses, we learned a Public Health based idea could not come without assistance; it takes the collective. PUBH 102 exposed me to many intervention programs that were taking place in South Carolina. We discussed increasing maternal mortality rates and the Cradle of Shame, a collection of rural South Carolina counties where babies are not living to see their first birthdays at a rate two to three times that of the nation. This death rate mirrors many undeveloped nations, and both of these affect African American mothers and babies disproportionately. Learning of this was jaw-dropping and gave me an unsettling feeling when thinking of the family I know I want to have.

 

From this health problem came the non-profit organization, Nurse to Family Partnerships, a subtle relief. The program uses trained nurses to assist first-time expecting mothers beginning in early pregnancy to age two. Its mission is to positively transform the lives of vulnerable babies, mothers, and families. In this form of collaboration, this partnership, nurses act as resources providing care and sharing skills/knowledge that gives mothers the confidence knowing that their babies will have a healthy start and that they both can have healthy lives and positive opportunities in the future. Wow right! An empowering experience birthed from collaboration pushing family units through education and support, creating a space for trusting relationships to be formed. I would later end up meeting a woman involved in the program while at work. My face lit up as I saw the logo on her shirt and began to tell her how I knew of the program. She was excited I knew of the organization so much that she gave me a bag filled with brand goods and pamphlets, which I later gave to Dr. Montgomery for her class. Truly a full-circle experience. 

​

Now HPEB 553 is the class that combined my love for community and Public Health. Taking this class, I understood how community health problems utilized collaboration by learning the roles of individuals, community agencies, and government. This class also emphasizes personal involvement regarding community members. I got introduced to the collaborative research method, Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). CBPR is a research methodology that includes the participation of those affected by the issue or problem studied for the dual purpose of creating knowledge and social change. In this method, community partnerships shape the design and implementation of research. I love the process because it encompasses several of my values: equity, empowerment, creativity, and social change. Utilizing this research method allows individuals to participate in the design and has proven that individuals are more likely to become involved and stay involved throughout the intervention process. This research method creates opportunities for participants to become leaders in their communities through education and training becoming an advocate for themselves and community members. I like this method because I believe that research should serve participants in the same way as researchers, to its full extent. This process builds trust not only with researchers but amongst individuals within the community. In class, we watched a video based on the application of CBPR at the University of Michigan, and I remember saying to myself, this is it, we should be doing this! Simply doing interventions just because decreases opportunities that support sustainability leading to positive health outcomes. We lose the opportunity to empower individuals and bring about a change that pushes individuals forward to lead their lives. One of my goals in life is to start a non-profit organization based around, what I call, youth-centered community development. In the future, I can see myself applying principles from this research method in my organization. 

 

Working for the Office of the Mayor, I have had the opportunity to collaborate with community partners and amazing people that make them up. The Senior Wellness Network (SWN) is an aid networking program created in response to COVID-19. In my current role with the SWN, I have had the pleasure of working with SC Thrive, where they work to supply resources for individuals to be physically, mentally, and financially healthy. The position of a program coordinator I knew nothing about yet. What I did know was I did not want to fake or hide anything because I knew from teachings that trust builds from honesty. I have been working with the Senior Regional Manager throughout this entire process and was very transparent that this was my first time being in this role, and there were things I did not know. She responded in a positive way that reaffirmed me and encouraged me to be okay with not knowing. My actions and her reaction separate and combined were empowering. I felt able to be open, and then she began to ask me questions about things she did not know, and we both did this without hesitation. The space we created empowered us to be ourselves and made the work more enjoyable regardless of challenges. We combined our knowledge and made additions to the program implementation where we thought were needed. Our goal was to ensure that seniors had the necessary resources during the current time of COVID-19. When they expressed needs, we would connect them to community resources in or near their areas. These resources included Senior Resources, Meals on Wheels, and Senior Wheels. 

​

Lastly, COLA 298: Community-Centered Leadership and Innovation, a free course derived from past university Student Body President Taylor Wright’s senior thesis, changed my life. This course allowed me to be myself and apply concepts that actively worked towards an effort of change in Five Points. Collaboration is one of the seven C’s in the Social Change Model used throughout the course. The Social Change Model of Leadership approaches leadership as a purposeful, collaborative, values-based process that results in positive social change. This free course only had ten students total, but it was a great mix of majors. This great mix included public health, business, political science, marine biology naming a few, which allowed an impactful collaboration experience to bring about change in the Five Points area. 

​

This course created a space where I could apply aspects from things learned in my major courses and my own experiences as a university student. This process required and created trust by understanding and consistent with our values, beliefs, and shared goals. It served me to have a level of respect for the perspectives of my classmates. From issues regarding Five Points presented to us through research and personal experiences, we created common goals surrounding safety, community, and working to understand the relationship between Five Points and the university. We would spit out ideas with a mutual understanding that they are all on the table until we as a group say it is not. Goals created led to our subcommittees Community and Culture, Research and Development, and Pedestrian Improvement. Being in the Pedestrian Improvement subcommittee was where I utilized what I had learned and was actively learning in my public health courses. We met and listened to concerns from officials from surrounding Shandon neighborhoods, U of SC Campus and City of Columbia Police Departments, the Student Body, and the Five Points Association to gain insight.

​

Finally, this led to our community partnership meeting, where we presented our plans for improvement to the same officials we listened to. Article 1 is the presentation that my subcommittee. Pedestrian Improvement, created. Through this presentation, we exemplify the collaboration process by stating our method(s), listing stakeholders, presenting a S.W.O.T Analysis, and our strategic plan to improve Five Points. Our community partnership meeting was the first time a meeting of this nature included all these individuals, including us. An open dialogue was able to be created, it was tough to hear some of the opinions of community partners, but this was a part of the collaboration process. I had to remain open-minded and still remember the group goals aligning with the improvement of Five Points. I had to constantly check myself and be self-aware while responding to feedback so that my feelings did not overpower our group intentions or dilute my response to the point of it becoming ineffective. I defended rationales for other groups because we had all approved and found value in our work. That is what collaboration is about to me. Together in thoughts and honoring the range of perspectives that they derive. It takes a lot as an individual and group when you think about it, but we did it! From my presentation in this class, Taylor recommended me to apply for Mayor’s Fellows Program. It was also in this course where I picked a Graduation with Leadership Distinction pamphlet and got curious. So yeah, kind of why I am here. 

 

In the evaluation process of the SWN program, we had to get feedback from our youth volunteers. During the evaluation process, you have to be prepared to hear the positive and the negative feedback. Both are important so that effective changes made can lead to improving the program. I created a calling script for the program and knew it would need to be revised based on responsiveness. The process of being open-minded and respectful of perspectives that I went through during the community partnership meeting I was experiencing again. Article 2 shows the updated version of the calling script used for the program. As youth volunteers began to give feedback, I had to stay aware of my tone when asking for further information about their responses. I received feedback from SC Thrive on how the script can be improved based on their findings and added their suggestions. All this did was make the program better. This experience was not easy but, with the help of others, I became better. Through collaboration, everyone has the opportunity to get better.