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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Christopher D. Heaney, MS, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, NC, Omega R. Wilson, MA, LUTCF, West End Revitalization Association (WERA), USEPA Collaborative Problem Solving Project, PO Box 661, Mebane, NC 27302-0661, 919-563-8857, wera@wera-nc.org, Sacoby Wilson, MS, PhD, Center for Social Epidemiology and Population Health, University of Michigan, 1214 S. University Ave, Room #246, Ann Arbor, MI 48104, and John Cooper, PhD, MDC Inc., 400 Silver Cedar Court, Suite 300, Chapel Hill, NC 27514.

The purpose of this paper is to highlight the work of a community non-profit organization in Mebane, NC that has developed a new alternative to traditional CBPR through its struggle for rights to the basic amenities of safe, publicly regulated drinking water and sewer service. The West End Revitalization Association (WERA) has developed a community-owned and managed research (COMR) approach that has proven successful to solve structural, environmental, and health disparities problems in communities of color with university researchers and environmental, planning, health and legal professionals. In order to create better health outcomes and sustainable programs, it is essential to have communities involved in public health research and intervention development. There is an increasing trend for universities to work directly with communities collaboratively on projects. It is important to talk about these relationships and how they can be strengthened for mutual success. As researchers and communities work together there is a need to stress community ownership and management of the process. Communities should be able to use information gathered so that they can develop their own community-driven solutions. This session will focus on a COMR approach developed by WERA who have formed a strong coalition and positioned themselves to be a dynamic force for change of environmental, planning and public health policies. This presentation will focus on the COMR model and provide examples of successes within the context of WERA's long-term strategic plan for collaborative work with university researchers, planning professionals, and the Office of Environmental Justice, USEPA, Washington, DC.

Learning Objectives:

• • Present a successful model to identify environmental hazards in impacted communities of color in rural underserved areas of the US;
• • Describe the capacity of low-income minority environmental justice communities to finance long-term community-owned and managed (COMR) research partnerships with university researchers and environmental, legal, and public health professionals;
• • Evaluate the potential of low-income minority environmental justice community-based organizations to establish and manage stakeholders’ input for effective and on-going solutions;
• • Demonstrate that community-owned and managed applied research is vital to developing solutions for impacted low-income minority communities like those in Mebane, NC;
• • Understand the ethical and legal importance of protecting the intellectual property of community-based grassroots managed research data.

Keywords: Community-Based Partnership, Environmental Justice

Related Web page: www.wera-nc.org

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No