Creative collaborators: Nonprofit benefits from seniors’ research

Guided by a faculty leader, a public policy capstone team provided advice about strengthening N.C. communities’ disaster response efforts.

Blueprint NC, in collaboration with various organizations throughout North Carolina, is working toward a sustainable solution for natural disaster relief. Through the development of “resilience hubs,” local allies align closely with the state’s communities so they can move with lightning speed to help.

The work of these hubs was the focus of “Expanding Resilience in Southeastern N.C.,” a class project that recent UNC graduate Ashley Cox and five other seniors undertook in spring 2024 as part of their public policy capstone course. For example, Cox learned of a hub that was able to deliver oxygen quickly to a woman who was on her last tank after Hurricane Floyd hit her community.

In consulting with Blueprint NC, a Durham-based nonprofit, the student teams were tasked with helping the organization discover how the resilience hubs could get more funding and strengthen their focus on often-overlooked communities in disaster response.

The public policy capstone is the culmination course of the major. It pairs students with local or state government agencies or nonprofits, often from North Carolina, to apply Tar Heels’ knowledge and skills in real-world policy environments. Students provide research and analysis while developing skills in teamwork, leadership, communication, professional etiquette and time management.

“I felt this course was where I truly learned the most about my major,” Cox said.

In return, the agencies get pro-bono expertise from students and a professor, who guides them.

Research assistant professor Evan Johnson — Cox’s team’s guiding light and collaborator — gave them an A.

“It’s one of the best projects I have ever seen, and I have taught the course many times,” Johnson said. “They were a very professional group. … It was a joy to be their instructor.”

The team began by reviewing articles in at least four peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Emergency Management. They discovered that traditionally, much Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) aid has gone to privileged communities, whereas low income and communities of color are more impacted by natural disasters, Cox said.

“I researched the history of racist housing laws that have concentrated people of color in areas that are most vulnerable when a storm comes,” she said.

The student team also found that resilience hubs aren’t just needed or active after storms hit.

The team interviewed representatives of three resilience hubs: The Alpha Life Enrichment Center, serving Beaufort and Washington counties; A Better Chance, A Better Community in northeastern North Carolina; and the Columbus County Forum, based in Whiteville.

One finding was that current resilience hubs often also serve neighboring counties. To be able to respond quickly, Blueprint NC should establish additional hubs, according to the team’s 104-page report.

The student team created a map based on academic sources and flooding data from previous hurricanes, suggesting new hubs be established in Cumberland, Lenoir, Pitt, Robeson and Wayne counties.

Besides recommending best practices for hubs, the team also suggested that Blueprint NC help hubs register as critical facilities with FEMA and that Blueprint NC track hubs’ impact to help gain grant funding and, possibly, legislative support.

The team met with Johnson up to four times a week. Cox called the collaboration between students and their faculty leader “fantastic.”

“If I was hesitant about sending an email or how to coordinate something or what exactly the expectation was, I could turn to Dr. Johnson,” she said.

Johnson said the team was always prepared with thoughtful questions. “If they encountered problems, they always had a clear picture of what the problem was, and they were able to articulate that so I could help.”

He said Blueprint NC was “ecstatic” with the results. And the capstone course left Cox confident in experiential skills that extend beyond what she learned in the classroom.

“Getting to work with a real organization prepared me to feel comfortable looking for jobs and more sure of what I want to do with my degree,” Cox said.

By Laura J. Toler ’76