By Logan Langlois
NASHVILLE, TN — Fayetteville State University professor in the School of Social Work, Erica Campbell, has been awarded a $10,000 grant for simulation-based education. Campbell said the grant provided by the Council of Social Work Education’s Kendall Institute will allow for more impactful education and training regarding spreading awareness of widespread food insecurity, an issue that has become a widespread issue in North Carolina. Campbell said that students will not only be studying of food insecurity but also learning how to assist in adapting to the crises and its ever-changing influences.
Campbell said she began her journey while conducting a needs assessment for a student-led organization she was working with named Black Feminist Scholars. Through the assessment, results showed that what students were in most need of were food and hygiene products. From the assessment, Campbell said she developed a two-part plan in order to both teach about and provide relief for her local community’s food insecurity.
Campbell said this will be done through the development of a simulation skills lab, within which virtual reality, as well as real-life scenarios, will be constructed for students to interact with. Campbell said that factors surrounding these scenarios change, such as how to apply a community assessment model they’ve built to a food-insecure population in an urban or rural setting. Campbell said she hopes the VR training can be developed to secure promising future internships for students, as well as more equipped social workers.
Campbell said that her team will be using a revised and modified version of a simulation that has already been developed by a partnering university. Campbell said that the simulation is currently undergoing these revisions and that the team hopes to have it completed by mid-April at the latest in order to be showcased to students by early May. Campbell said she has been working closely with the IT workers in developing the technology the rest of the simulation will be built on, which often can be the most difficult part of the process. Campbell said her team will be working on an informational link regarding their work on their school’s social network page.
Campbell said she acquired the knowledge of how to go through the grant application process and what grants to apply for while working on an unrelated project. She said that transferring these skills simply felt like fitting her skills to the needs of the community she is currently serving, that being her students.
“One thing we’re hoping from the curriculum is not only to provide the educational knowledge and experience but to also start developing the food programs, recovery programs where we’re addressing the distinct needs in Cumberland County,” Gaither-Davis said. “Specifically on our campus as well, our students’ needs.”
Campbell said that food insecurity has been a growing problem throughout the nation, but it has grown in intensity since COVID. Campbell said that factors like high price food inflation have been huge contributors to food insecurity. She said that about 23% of African Americans are impacted by food insecurity.
“When we think just about the demographic reach and impact of this particular topic for North Carolina but distinctly for Cumberland County there’s a very significant need because large portions of our communities are actually impacted,” Campbell said.
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