community organizing

Key players in the health fair and early days of the clinic in Petros, Tenn.

Caryl Carpenter, Rick Davidson, and Irwin Venick meet with Kate and J.W. Bradley to discuss the Petros health fair and community clinic. They list several of the early players involved with both, including Wanda and Gary Lang, Bob Hartmann, John Gaventa, Perry Steele, Cathy Stanley, Pat Kalmans, Bill Dow, and Bill Greenberg, a reporter for …

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An overview of Nancy Raybin’s SHC experience

Nancy Raybin recaps her time with the Student Health Coalition, from initial introduction during the spring semester and subsequent participation as a community organizer in St. Charles, Va. during the summer of 1973 to serving as co-Director–alongside Randy Hodges and Polly McClanahan-McArthur–the following academic year. Follow this link for access to the full-length interview. Recorded …

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On the Coalition’s installation of hope, strength, and inspiration to keep going

Margaret Ecker frames healthcare as a tool the SHC elected to use toward community empowerment, concluding, along with Rosie Hammond, that while the Coalition may not have made many structural changes to healthcare in the region, their community organizing efforts instilled hope, strength, and inspiration to keep moving forward. Follow this link for full-footage of …

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Margaret Ecker’s perspective on local home-stays and her experience among the Melungeon Community

Margaret Ecker shares her perspective on the Coalition’s unique opportunity for students to stay with local families, and the power doing so had on the relationship-building element crucial to effective community organizing. As an example, she reminisces her experience among the isolated Melungeon community near Sneedville, Tenn. during the summer of 1970. Follow this link …

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Margaret Ecker’s introduction to the Coalition and its role in her shift of career pursuits

Margaret Ecker describes her introduction to the Student Health Coalition during the summer of 1970. She had just graduated from Vanderbilt University with plans to pursue a law degree. Having not yet set the intention to pursue a career in the medical field instead, she worked as a community organizer and supported the identification of …

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