Local Nonprofit Organizations Research Articles

Experiential Learning: Conferences as a Tool to Develop Students’ Understanding of Community-Engaged Research

The purpose of this paper of practice is to explore the use of a “Conference as Curriculum” model to develop student understanding of critical approaches and challenges and opportunities in the field of community-engaged research (CER). Two higher education institutions in California’s Monterey County sent 22 students to the “All-In: Co-Creating Knowledge for Justice” Conference in Santa Cruz, California USA in October 2022. The undergraduate and graduate students were funded through their academic institutions and accompanied by faculty and staff working on community-engaged research. Participation in the conference involved a pre- and post-conference convening to prepare students for the conference and then guide students through reflections on their learning and future work. The experiential learning activities offered in conjunction with the students’ conference attendance were designed to: (1) foster students’ connection to the community and each other; (2) develop students’ understanding of community-engaged research; and (3) build students’ professional acumen through attending a professional conference. Two authors of this article share their experience as student attendees at the conference. The student vignettes provide insight on the authors’ learning experiences and offer design implications for the use of cohort conference attendance as an experiential learning activity. The article presents a conference experiential learning model that could be replicated and modified by other higher education institutions. We also place the project within a greater inter-institutional initiative to build a model for community-driven collaborations that seeks to address challenges surrounding higher education engagement with local nonprofits and governments.

Contramedidas en Cabo Pulmo: La ciencia y la judicialización de conflictos ambientales en México

AbstractThe judicialization of environmental conflicts in Mexico has generated a growing demand for legal evidence of environmental damages and risks to ecosystems and communities. When conflicts arise over large development projects, one opposition strategy consists of denouncing errors in a project's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) or procedural errors in its evaluation by federal authorities. Volunteer scientists collaborate with local communities and nonprofit organizations to diagnose technical errors in the EIS and develop “countermeasures” of risks that can be used to contest projects in court. This article analyzes a paradigmatic case of independent EIS review that occurred to oppose a tourism megadevelopment project adjoining the Cabo Pulmo National Marine Park in Baja California Sur. Confronted with the contraction of the political sphere in Mexico, this administrative tactic of political struggle appears as a viable alternative to directly challenging powerful elites. The Cabo Pulmo case highlights evolving relationships between science, environmental governance, and emergent forms of political mobilization in Latin America.

High Impact Practices in Underserved Communities: Linking Open Educational Resources and Local Non-Profit in Business Communications Course Design

High Impact Practices in Underserved Communities: Linking Open Educational Resources and Local Non-Profit in Business Communications Course Design

Growing food, growing food systems: The role of non-profit farms

The study of non-profit food organizations has focused primarily on food policy, urban gardens, coops, and farmers' markets in cities. Despite significant research on these kinds of food non-profits, research specifically on non-profit farms – organizations that produce food for local communities – is nearly non-existent. We argue that non-profit farms are a category that deserves more research attention. This article asks what services non-profit farms see themselves as providing to their communities, along with a supply of local food. We focus on the missions of non-profit farms, using farms on the GuideStar database of non-profit organizations. We also examine, through interviews and website analysis, the role of non-profit farms in the Hudson Valley, long a hub of non-profit farms. We conclude that local non-profit farms are hybrid organizations that perform services that are similar to local community non-profits, supporting local social welfare, environment, education, and community development roles, along with providing local food access and, in some cases, supporting food system change.

The Chelsea Project: Turning Research and Wastewater Surveillance on COVID-19 Into Health Equity Action, Massachusetts, 2020-2021.

Chelsea, Massachusetts, had one of the highest COVID-19 transmission rates in New England in the summer of 2020. The Chelsea Project was a collaborative effort in which government entities, local nonprofit organizations, and startups partnered to deploy wastewater analysis, targeted polymerase chain reaction testing and vaccine outreach, and a community-led communications strategy. The strategy helped increase both testing rates and vaccination rates in Chelsea. Today Chelsea has one of the highest vaccination rates among US cities with comparable demographics. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(6):627-630. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307253).

Chesapeake Regional Healthcare: Support from the Top for Impactful Relationships.

When governing boards of healthcare organizations resolve to support their executive teams' commitments of time and money to create strategic action plans that meet their communities' environmental and social criteria-and when those healthcare organizations work with others that share their passion to measurably improve health-their communities can realize remarkable benefits. For example, this case study describes Chesapeake Regional Healthcare's collaborative approach to a community health need that began with data from the hospital's emergency department. The approach included the development of intentional relationships with local health departments and nonprofits. The possibilities of such evidence-based collaborations are endless, but the support of a solid organizational structure is required as data collection identifies additional needs.

Review: Feminista Frequencies: Community Building through Radio in the Yakima Valley, by Monica De La Torre

Review: <i>Feminista Frequencies: Community Building through Radio in the Yakima Valley</i>, by Monica De La Torre

Colorblind on the color line: critical ethnography of racial inequity in a human service organization serving a community of single-mother families at the margins

AbstractThis study takes an in-depth critical ethnographic look at a local nonprofit human service organization, Lavender Refuge, that supports marginalized families. This study explored the communication of staff/volunteers and residential clients that facilitate or inhibit the nonprofit’s aims to create an inclusive community culture. Critical race theory and social identity theory were utilized as theoretical frameworks to better understand the culture of Lavender Refuge’s community. Findings revealed three dominant themes related to issues of racial (in)equity at Lavender Refuge. The desire for positive identities, controlled performances within the community hindering race conscious (Crenshaw, K. (1995). Race, reform, retrenchment: Transformation and legitimation in anti-discrimination law. In K. Crenshaw, N. Gotanda, G. Peller, &amp; K. Thomas (Eds.), Critical race theory: The key writings that formed the movement (pp. 103–126). New Press: Distributed by W.W. Norton &amp; Co.) communication. Further, conversations about race were seen as fostering intergroup competition along racial lines, explaining resistance to race communication. Our research team concludes with practical recommendations, resources, and training in hopes they could change the community culture so racial diversity is embraced and equity fostered.

Seeding Community Intermediary Organizations and the Liability of Growth in Obtaining Local Giving

Over the past 50 years, philanthropic institutions and governments have invested millions of dollars to support the growth of community intermediary organizations (CIOs) for developing vibrant civic lives. CIOs are community-based nonprofit organizations that do not directly deliver services but support other local nonprofit organizations. The key issue for these investments is how to generate more local giving for CIOs to reduce their dependence on external funders. It is believed that CIOs established in wealthy communities are more likely to attract local giving. However, an investigation into community foundations—a type of CIOs—seeded by a funder shows that foundations in the wealthiest communities did not receive much local giving. Rapid population growth in wealthy communities disrupted conventional, close-knit social relations and undermined the efficacy of foundations’ traditional fundraising model that relied on personal relationship-building, local brokers, and word-of-mouth referrals to attract giving. Community foundations suffered from low visibility and lost competitive advantages over commercial and national competitors. It suggests that funders should pay more attention to increasing volatility in communities and help CIOs transform their fundraising model.

The Strategic Use of Corporate Philanthropy: Evidence from Bank Donations

Abstract This article examines the strategic nature of banks’ charitable giving by studying bank donations to local nonprofit organizations. Relying on the application of antitrust rules in bank mergers as an exogenous shock to local deposit market competition, we find that local competition affects banks’ local donation decisions. Using county-level natural disaster shocks, we show that banks with disaster exposure reallocate donations away from nonshocked counties, where they operate branches, and toward shocked counties. The reallocation of donations represents an exogenous increase in the local share of donations in nonshocked counties for banks with no disaster exposure and leads to an increase in the local deposit market shares of such banks. Furthermore, banks can potentially earn greater profits from making donations and tend to donate to nonprofits that have the most social impact. Overall, our evidence suggests that banks participate in corporate philanthropy strategically to enhance performance.

Using Digital Health Technology to Prevent and Treat Diabetes.

Using Digital Health Technology to Prevent and Treat Diabetes.

Facilitating team-based data science: Lessons learned from the DSC-WAV project

&lt;p style='text-indent:20px;'&gt;While coursework provides undergraduate data science students with some relevant analytic skills, many are not given the rich experiences with data and computing they need to be successful in the workplace. Additionally, students often have limited exposure to team-based data science and the principles and tools of collaboration that are encountered outside of school.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style='text-indent:20px;'&gt;In this paper, we describe the DSC-WAV program, an NSF-funded data science workforce development project in which teams of undergraduate sophomores and juniors work with a local non-profit organization on a data-focused problem. To help students develop a sense of agency and improve confidence in their technical and non-technical data science skills, the project promoted a team-based approach to data science, adopting several processes and tools intended to facilitate this collaboration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p style='text-indent:20px;'&gt;Evidence from the project evaluation, including participant survey and interview data, is presented to document the degree to which the project was successful in engaging students in team-based data science, and how the project changed the students' perceptions of their technical and non-technical skills. We also examine opportunities for improvement and offer insight to other data science educators who may want to implement a similar team-based approach to data science projects at their own institutions.&lt;/p&gt;

UC San Diego Undergraduates and the Ocean Discovery Institute Collaborate to Form a Pilot Program in Culturally Responsive Mentoring

The geoscience workforce, particularly in ocean sciences, lacks diversity. Implementing culturally responsive teaching and mentoring practices throughout the K–university pipeline is one way to help increase diversity in the field. Here, we describe initial results and lessons learned from a pilot course conducted through a partnership between the University of California San Diego (UCSD) and the Ocean Discovery Institute (ODI), a local nonprofit that provides opportunities for low-income K–12 youths to learn about oceanography. The goals of the pilot course are to educate a racially diverse group of UCSD undergraduates in culturally sensitive mentoring practices and provide opportunities for them to apply their newly acquired skills while working with K–12 students at ODI. The undergraduates prepared and implemented lessons designed to demystify the college experience for their mentees. Through classroom experience and weekly journal reflections, undergraduates developed confidence and improved their ability to mentor youth.

Geospatial characteristics of allotment garden provision in Tokyo

Abstract Allotment gardens (AGs), one of the most popular forms of urban agriculture (UA), have attracted social attention because of the ecosystem services they provide to citizens. However, the services and availability of AGs may be unevenly distributed, owing to their geographic location. The patterns underlying the provision of AG plots and facilities to users in Tokyo are unclear. Thus, this study quantitatively examines the characteristics of different types of AG provision and their determinants in the metropolitan region of Tokyo. We classified a sample of 313 AGs gathered from governmental open data via a non-hierarchical cluster analysis of AG provision patterns based on their properties, including number of plots, plot size, contract price and duration, and facilities such as agricultural equipment and access to instructors. Moreover, we examined the influence of urban development and residential characteristics on these classes using the Kruskal–Wallis test. The analysis identifies six AG provision patterns based on their properties. It also revealed that AG provision in Tokyo was differentiated by the percentage of agricultural land and the socio-demographic characteristics of residents, including population, percentage of young population, and income levels from the city center to the suburban areas, corresponding to urban sprawl. These findings could provide valuable insights to help local governments, farmers, and non-profit organizations address the challenges and opportunities arising from each AG provision pattern and to make AG plots and facilities more adaptable to upcoming urban shrinkage, business opportunities, and possible excessive subdivision and price hikes.

CZECH EXPERIENCE IN OVERCOMING THE MIGRATION CRISIS 2022

The article examines the experience of the Czech Republic in overcoming the migration crisis in 2022, which was caused by a special military operation in Ukraine. Despite the traditional ignorance of the problems of refugees from the Middle East and Africa, authorities, supported by the local population and non-profit organizations, were ready to provide large-scale assistance to Ukrainian refugees. The paper studies the main steps taken by P. Fiala’s Cabinet to support internally displaced persons. It is shown that measures were promptly taken to simplify the entry of Ukrainians into the labor market of the Czechia, access for children to educational institutions was opened, and temporary housing was provided. Amendments to the Czech legislation in the relevant areas of law and the weakening of the flow of refugees, already in the summer of 2022, allowed the Czechia to relatively easily go through the ordeal of the migration crisis, without using the country's full potential. At the same time, the study shows that the initial enthusiasm of the Czechs disappeared, and discussions began to arise about the formation of a Ukrainian minority in the Czechia and endowing it with political subjectivity. In turn, public opinion polls clearly showed that ordinary citizens were against the long stay of Ukrainians in the country

UTILIZING BOOT CAMP TRANSLATION TO ENCOURAGE HISPANIC/LATINX PARTICIPATION IN ALZHEIMER’S RESEARCH

Abstract Hispanic/Latinx (H/L) individuals are 50% more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease (AD), relative to non-Hispanic whites. Despite higher prevalence rates and earlier age of onset, H/L individuals are underrepresented in aging and AD research. The Engaging Communities of Hispanics for Aging Research (ECHAR) Network is an interdisciplinary, multi-site project that aims to address these disparities. ECHAR uses Boot Camp Translation (BCT), a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach that partners research faculty and medical experts with community stakeholders to translate medical jargon into action-based, locally-relevant messages. Researchers at University of Nevada, Las Vegas recruited 14 community members to participate in an AD-specific BCT. The process was completed between June 2021 through January 2022 to identify: 1) key messages, 2) target audience(s), and 3) dissemination strategies. BCT members identified three messages to reflect community concerns and highlight values: 1) “Amar es saber” (“To love is to know”), which acknowledges the importance of family and addresses cultural norms that may discourage disease conversations; 2) “The community cares. Let’s talk.”; and 3) "Podemos afrontar el Alzheimer juntos." (”We can face Alzheimer’s disease together.”). Target audiences include younger and middle-age adults who may be or become caregivers and local non-profit and community organizations. Members identified social media, community education events, community influencers, and educational products as dissemination strategies. BCT is an effective tool for engaging local communities and exploring Hispanic/Latinx beliefs and attitudes toward AD. It leverages community member expertise to create meaningful, tailored, and culturally-relevant messages that address health disparities and encourage action.

THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY USE ON CUSTODIAL GRANDPARENTS’ DEPRESSION

Abstract During COVID-19, custodial grandparents experienced symptoms of depression due to social isolation, and technology use may reduce depression. This study examines the association between level of comfort of using technology and depression among custodial grandparents. Cross-sectional survey data (N = 287) were collected via multiple sources, including state agencies, local non-profit organizations serving kinship families, foster parent associations, schools, and Qualtrics Panels between March 2021 and March 2022. The average age of grandparents was 55 years. Over half were female (71.43%), had some college education (68.75%), and were White (55.12%). Depression was measured using the CES-D 10 scale. This variable was dummy coded using 8 as the cutoff score (Andresen et al., 1994). The level of comfort using technology was measured by combining four survey questions. Grandparent age, race, gender, marital status, home ownership, geographic area, disability, employment, education, physical health, telehealth, and telemental health were controlled. The logistic regression model revealed that those who had a higher comfort level with technology had significantly lower odds of having depression (OR = .543, p = &amp;lt; .001). Those with physical health had significantly lower odds of having depression (OR = .727, p = .044). Grandparents who needed telehealth (OR = 2.81, p =.005) and telemental health services (OR = 2.93, p =.003) had significantly higher odds of having depression. This research implies that custodial grandparents’ use of technology, particularly their comfort levels with technology may reduce depression among grandparents. This will inform practice and policy for those who work with custodial grandparents.

Community efforts to monitor and manage Aedes mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae) with ovitraps and litter reduction in east Tennessee

BackgroundEast Tennessee (USA) is burdened by mosquito-borne La Crosse virus disease, but minimal resources for mosquito surveillance, management, or related community education exist in the region. To address these needs, we developed a program to train middle and high school educators in basic medical entomology. The educators then used their skills in the classroom to teach students about La Crosse virus disease and conduct mosquito collection experiments. As a case study of a potential application of classroom-collected data, we also partnered with a local non-profit organization to assess the potential for a volunteer litter cleanup to reduce mosquito populations in a Tennessee neighborhood.MethodsOur first objective was to investigate the ability for educators and their students (schools) to collect high-quality mosquito surveillance data. In 2019 and 2020, we collected Aedes (Diptera: Culicidae) eggs during the same study period as schools and assessed whether data collected by schools reflected the same findings as our own data. Our second objective was to investigate the impact of a volunteer litter cleanup event on Aedes mosquito abundance. In 2021, we collected Aedes eggs before and after a neighborhood trash cleanup while schools conducted their own mosquito egg collections. Using the school collections as non-treatment sites, we used a Before-After-Control-Impact analysis to determine if there was a significant decline in egg abundance after the cleanup.ResultsIn 2019, mosquito abundance trends were similar between our data and school data but differed significantly during some weeks. After refining our protocols in 2020, school data was highly similar to our data, indicating that schools consistently collected high-quality surveillance data in the program’s second year. In 2021, we found a significant decline in Aedes egg abundance after the litter cleanup event in comparison to the schools, but the number of adults reared from those eggs did not differ between sites after the cleanup.ConclusionThe results of our work demonstrate the potential for community-driven programs to monitor mosquito abundance trends and for volunteer-based cleanup events to reduce the burden of Aedes mosquitoes. In the absence of infrastructure and resources, academic-community partnerships like the ones evaluated here, provide opportunities to help resource limited areas.

Partnership in Promoting Community Health Research: Ten-Year Evaluation of the Little Village Community Advisory Board.

Few have examined factors associated with community advisory board (CAB) sustainability from the perspective of members. We aimed to provide insight into the formation of a CAB and attributes and challenges to sustaining it in addressing Latino health disparities in Chicago. The Little Village CAB was formed in 2009 with members representing a wide range of local organizations, including churches, nonprofit organizations, and health centers. We analyzed annual survey results sent to members over a 10-year period. Likert-type questions assessed five domains: mission, commitment, communication, respect/trust, and teamwork/balance of power. We also analyzed free-text responses to determine prevalent themes. Ten years of CAB monthly meeting minutes were used to form word clouds which were assessed for changes across years. Survey questions demonstrated high averages across all years for each domain with minimal variation. Free-text responses indicated that members initially joined the CAB owing to request or interest in community health. CAB attributes included mission, community focus, openness/respect, teamwork, and leadership. Areas for improvement included broadening membership, clarifying goals periodically, and meeting structure. Meeting minutes demonstrated a progression from program creation to maintenance across the years. The CAB rated openness/respect, community focus, and commitment to mission high across all 10 years. Areas for improvement included broadening membership and clarifying goals periodically. In forming a CAB to address health disparities in a Latino community, researchers must be aware of factors that motivated members to join and remain engaged with an academic team using an iterative evaluative process.

Asset building policies to lift the resource curse: child development accounts in oil-and-gas-rich countries

Of the approximately 70 low-to-middle-income (LMI) oil-and-gas-rich countries, almost all are victims of the resource curse or paradox of plenty, which conceptualizes the development patterns with petroleum and mineral resources. Lifting the resource curse can positively change the trajectory of global development. After the failure of the implementation of natural reserve funds in most oil-and-gas-rich LMI countries, scholars suggested the direct distribution of natural resource revenues to the population to escape the resource curse. The paper suggests an evidence-based asset-building policy, child development accounts (CDA), linked to oil and gas revenues being directly distributed to the population. CDAs are saving accounts specifically targeting children, started in the late 1980s, to help families to fulfill life goals for their children such as postsecondary education, homeownership, business development, and retirement security. The elements of the recommended policy are based on the findings of three qualitative studies carried out in Azerbaijan in 2017 and 2018, and in six post-Soviet countries in 2019 and 2020. Primary data were collected through in-depth interviews with key informants (N = 94), such as ministers, deputy ministers, representatives of the oil funds, academicians, financial institutions, and local and international nonprofit organizations. Secondary data came from archival records, such as governmental reports, publications from national and international agencies, published research, and statistics from relevant government agencies. Purposive sampling techniques were used. The inclusion criteria were being a senior policy-maker, having a deep understanding of the policy-making process, and having deep knowledge of social protection and child well-being systems in Azerbaijan. The data were analyzed by NVivo. The paper used 10 CDA design elements recommended by Michael Sherraden and his colleagues as well as national CDA policy models from across the globe. Azerbaijan, an oil-and-gas-rich LMI country was chosen as a case study for the recommended policy design