New Tools, New Visions 2: Lessons learned as a CBPR technical assistance coordinator partnered with four rural, African-American communities

In 2008, four rural, Southern Georgia community organizations were awarded grants as part of the New Tools, New Visions 2 project (NTNV2) established by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. This 3-year, grant-funded project has brought together the predominantly African-American residents of Albany, Augusta, Fort Valley, and Savannah communities and faculty from their surrounding Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to develop community-campus partnerships. The health foci are environmental justice and/or violence prevention issues as identified by the residents. NTNV2 has two primary goals: (1) to develop the capacity of community residents to resolve these identified problems and create change in public policy and quality of life using several public health-based strategies, and (2) to engage community residents and partners with researchers and/or Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) to develop solutions for each targeted community's health issue among local residents. To assist the communities in achieving the project's and individual communities' goals, a technical assistance coordinator (TAC) was contracted by the WKKF to work with all grantees. Regarding NTNV2, the primary roles and responsibilities have been of this position are: (1) to provide the grantee organizations and HBCUs with targeted trainings related to the philosophy and strategies of CPBR; (2) to support and aid in linking the grantee organizations in the development of partnerships; (3) to serve as a stable point of contact between the grantees' project coordinators and the WKKF; (4) to assist with steering committee meeting facilitation; and (5) to assess (and possibly develop additional) evaluation questions related to the application of CBPR principles and community capacity building among the grantees and to support cross-site learning. Now entering its third year, these developing partnerships have challenged the TAC's skills and reignited the passion of working with African-American communities. The experience has and continues to result in critical lessons for public health professionals engaged in CBPR that may be distinct to rural African-American communities. These lessons are related to the history of HBCUs in the African-American community and the residents' perceptions, the challenges establishing CBPR partnerships with HBCUs and other community organizations, and effective strategies to engage residents.