Urban Extension. Program Initiatives at ACES. Your Guide to Urban Extension Programs in Alabama

Transcription

1 Your Guide to Urban Extension Programs in Alabama Urban Extension Program Initiatives at ACES UNP-0136 Alabama Cooperative Extension System Urban Affairs & New Nontraditional Programs

2 Introduction Urban Affairs and New Nontraditional Programs (Urban Affairs), a unit and base program area of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES), was established in 1995 as a result of the Court Decree Knight v. Alabama that sought to remove the vestiges of segregation from Alabama s system of public higher education (Knight 2006). The Court Decree called for a unification of Cooperative Extension within the state of Alabama between the Alabama Agricultural and Mechanical University (AAMU) and Auburn University (AU) with Tuskegee University (TU) cooperating. Urban Affairs, located at AAMU, was given the specific charge to provide learning opportunities for urban, new, and nontraditional audiences. Urban Affairs also focuses on limited-resource families, underserved audiences, individuals, and small enterprises as indicated in its mission statement. Urban Affairs is located in the James I. Dawson Building on the campus of AAMU. The building is named after AAMU s first 1890 administrator. Why Urban Extension Programs? America s population is increasingly becoming more urban with less than 18% of Americans residing in rural areas and less than 2% making their living as farmers (Wikipedia, 2012). Economic, social, and environmental changes have opened new programs of work as Extension continues its 100-year mission to connect people and communities to university resources through educational outreach programs that value stakeholder input and volunteerism. The rural agricultural base of Extension has also expanded to embrace urban and suburban issues. Alabama s land-grant universities (AAMU, AU, and TU) have the responsibility to reach across state lines to extend services to citizens wherever they live and work. 2 Alabama Cooperative Extension System America s populations are moving to urban areas, which opens the door for the development of urban, new, and nontraditional Extension programs.

3 Programming Framework Through extensive grassroots needs assessments where Extension staff carefully listened to stakeholders, ACES is positioning itself to meet the needs of Alabama s diverse populations. In response to the needs of Alabama s urban audiences, ACES Urban Affairs unit strives to fulfill the following goals and objectives. Prepare limited-resource, high-risk, and underserved families and individuals to balance diet, food preparation, food resources, and physical activity with health needs to manage chronic diseases and to improve health and wellness. Engage urban youth and young adults in civic, social, scientific, career, and community service pursuits that promote personal development and the mastery of life skills for positive and productive citizenship. Promote the social, economic, cultural growth, and development of families and individuals across the life cycle. Strengthen the capacity of urban, suburban, and emerging communities through partnerships with organizations engaged in revitalization, and workforce, economic, and community development. Institutionalize best practices in environmental education, conservation, and green space interventions to resolve current issues and to avoid the long-term consequences associated with poor environmental stewardship and the management of our soil, water, air, and energy resources. Empower citizens to build financial security for home and family by managing credit, spending, saving, and investment resources for daily living and later life. Reduce the impacts of humans on the environment by promoting environmental horticulture education to diverse urban and nontraditional audiences to help citizens make informed decisions about available ecosystem management, to increase urban and nontraditional farm sustainability and local food security, and to help citizens to be better stewards of their home and community environments, public spaces, farms, and business landscapes. Educate new and existing farmers on agricultural management and sustainability strategies to support wise investments and decision making for the production of small ruminants and other nontraditional and alternative animal species. Expand technological integration and community partnerships to build capacity for increased service to urban, new, and nontraditional audiences. Urban Extension Program Initiatives at ACES 3

4 Urban Programs Your Guide to Urban Extension Programs in Alabama Today, Urban Affairs has grown into a viable urban Extension unit that offers internationally recognized programs in the following eight program priority areas: Animal Sciences and Forages Consumer Sciences and Personal Financial Management Economic and Community Development Family and Child Development Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resource Management 4-H and Youth Development and Volunteerism Home Grounds, Gardens, and Home Pests Human Nutrition, Diet, and Health Personal financial management programs are designed to help people respond to short-term and long-term financial concerns. Animal Sciences and Forages The Southeast s climate and diverse urban populations offer a competitive edge and economic opportunities for multicultural meat and vegetable producers. Through Extension s urban outreach programs, small-scale and limited-resource farmers and producers have opportunities to increase their profitability and sustainability by teaming up with Extension professionals and other businesses and organizations to learn more about best management practices and how to effectively promote their products and services. The Alabama Ethnic Food Security Network (AEFSN) provides consumers, meat and vegetable producers, and food processors information about sustainable and profitable production and marketing strategies of ethnic foods, food safety, and healthy eating. Moreover, through applied research, educational programs, and hands-on technical services, the AEFSN works to increase the number of Alabama residents having access to safe and locally grown crops, organically grown vegetables, and grass-fed chicken, beef, and goat meat, which remains the most consumed red meat throughout the world. USDA representative David Garcia and Alabama meat goat producer Charles Scruggs demonstrate how to grade meat goat stock during a tour to the North Carolina A&T University Farm in Greensboro. 4 Alabama Cooperative Extension System

5 Consumer Sciences and Personal Financial Management Financial literacy programs use research-based information to facilitate responsible management of educational programs and resources that help consumers to avoid financial risks, indebtedness, and bankruptcy by offering information on budgeting, credit management, saving, investing, and readiness for income opportunities through job placement. Young professionals and retired seniors are specifically targeted since they are most likely to be on fixed incomes and among the most vulnerable populations during economic downturns. The Consumers Score with Credit in Check through Responsible Spending project initiated in 2007 builds on a number of curriculum-based resources. The program is designed to help citizens maintain and build credit scores to improve financial standings for better financial health. Promoting Readiness for Employment Possibilities (PREP) promotes job readiness for young and pre-professionals seeking employment and job advancement in a technologically changing job market. The PREP program focuses on four major competencies: completing job applications, resume building, interviewing skills, and how to dress for interviews. Economic and Community Development Evidence of a recession reflects in spending, investing, and in ongoing struggles related to foreclosure, homeownership, and employment. Economic recession greatly impacts small businesses and young professionals who search for new jobs and who are most likely to reduce work staff or to be relieved from work when businesses are forced to streamline operations. Career Countdown is a career exploration program that targets youth and young adults. Through this program participants learn how to assess their career interests, determine how their interests best fit the workplace, and explore what they need to do to reach their career goals. The Economic Development Conference is an annual event designed to provide educational outreach to assist communities and individuals in achieving and maintaining economic stability, addressing issues that impact economic development, and building statewide partnerships to empower communities to expand development and business opportunities. Minoritymall.com works with minority and small business owners to enhance their capacity through marketing and technical assistance. The project seeks to stimulate economic growth by educating owners on small business development procedures and facilitates and promotes an online presence. Resources are accessed through a virtual business development center housed inside a virtual shopping mall. The Partnerships for Community Economic Development program builds skills and educates participants on the benefits of pooling resources. The program encourages and promotes structured and formalized agreements such as memorandums of understanding with agencies and organizations across Alabama that support the goals and objectives of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Community partnerships lend fiscal and physical support to outreach efforts and to build community relationships that help Extension to realize its vision. Urban Extension Program Initiatives at ACES 5

6 Family and Child Development Today s families are diverse and have varied needs that evolve across the lifespan. Extension offers information and resources to strengthen not only families, but individuals, youth, and children to effectively respond to changing needs and environments that impact their lives. Through LegalEase and the Successful Aging Initiative, Urban Affairs partners with the Alabama Bureau of Geriatric Psychiatry and other organizations to offer seminars, health screenings, and programs focusing on legal issues such as creating wills and advanced directives, physical and fiscal health of the aging population, and their caregivers. Attention is given to educating consumers on how to assess assets, understand liabilities, and transfer assets for starters. Targeting diverse communities and families, the Family Advocacy through Caring Engagement Strategies (FACES) program seeks to build strong family relationships through program activities that promote quality time and encourage increased family interactions. The FACES program recognizes Family Day, a national movement that encourages parents to frequently eat dinner with their children and to be more involved in their lives. As adults live longer, it s important to create programs like the Successful Aging Initiative to help them and their loved ones to successfully manage the challenges adults face as they age. The Grand Parenting program lends assistance through program support groups and educational opportunities that prepare parents, grandparents, and relatives to develop parenting skills that aid in their traditional and nontraditional parenting roles. Forestry, Wildlife, and Natural Resource Management Environmental sciences programs are designed to enhance environmental awareness through research-based outreach. A multidisciplinary integrated approach is used to educate citizens to make informed decisions concerning the management of natural resources in their homes and nearby environments. The Urban Home-a-Syst program, the Urban Environmental Science Education Program, the E-Waste Institute, and the Green Living Expo promote environmentally conscious citizens. Outreach allows Extension and its partners such as the Green Team of Huntsville, the Environmental Protection Agency, and Legacy, Partners in Education, to disseminate environmental information to the public about water conservation, pollution, electronic waste disposal and management, and the importance of reducing, reusing, and recycling waste. The Green Living Expo is an excellent opportunity for consumers to learn how to be eco-friendly and for organizations and businesses to showcase their green products and services. 6 Alabama Cooperative Extension System

7 4-H and Youth Development and Volunteerism Urban youth development programs focus on building and engaging the service-learning and prevention skills of youth as ways to promote future leaders and to build skills that facilitate responsible leadership and the importance of giving back to the community. Youth explore career options in the fields of science, engineering, and technology to prepare them for challenging and rewarding occupations in the twenty-first century. The Living Interactive Family Education program, better known as LIFE, provides mentoring opportunities to enhance parental and caregiver engagement to incarcerated youth. The project seeks to expand the network of mentors to support long-term family reunification, and to increase positive youth development outcomes for belonging, independence, generosity, and mastery. Health Rocks! and the Teens Making Impact (TMI) youth development programs address emerging topics to prepare teens and tweens to make sound career decisions, to engage in effective communication, to pursue healthier lifestyles, to better understand government issues, to avoid substance abuse, and to know their role as productive citizens. The Teens and Tweens Conference is the culminating event for TMI. Volunteer support through the Volunteer in Urban Programs and the Extension-led Service-Learning Network on the AAMU campus, enables Urban Affairs to closely monitor thousands of hours that volunteers provide annually for community service projects, as well as the impact volunteers have on Extension programs. As a non-profit organization, ACES relies on the diligent assistance of volunteers to reach Alabama s growing urban populations. Extension offers a wide range of programs for tweens and teens to learn valuable life skills and to learn how to live responsibly in society. Extension also has numerous volunteer opportunities for those with free time, valuable skills, and a willing heart to serve your community. The Ready? Get SET to Explore Forensics! program responds to the national call for Extension initiatives that encourage science, engineering, and technology pursuits among youth audiences. Urban Extension Program Initiatives at ACES 7

8 Home Grounds, Gardens, and Home Pests Urban home grounds and gardens programs explore horticulture enterprises and marketing, community horticulture, horticulture therapy, and water conservation to improve participants income, enhance job and career skills in urban and nontraditional horticulture, create food supplies and food security for individuals, families and communities, and provide educational resources for conserving water and protecting the environment. Hands-on interaction through the mobile Water Wheels Outdoor Water Conservation Lab, and rainwater collection activities such as the Rainwater Harvesting Workshop, promote behavioral changes that not only conserve water, but also help to reduce the level of pollutants in our rivers and streams, and decreases energy consumption for water delivery and treatment. The programs educate citizens on the environmental and economic impacts of water conservation. Collected rainwater is used by program participants to support landscapes, to maintain gardens, and to meet the demands of other water projects. Urban Affairs has created Water Wheels, a mobile water conservation education center for youth and adults. Improved access to healthier food sources is the end result of Urban Gardens and Sustainable Landscapes (UGSL) activities that educate participants on the benefits of urban gardens. The goal is to increase the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables to improve nutrition and health for inner-city and limited-resource families. For example, high tunnel greenhouse production for commercial fruits and vegetables projects are Extension s response to initiatives to help growers. High tunnel production extends the growing season and increases profitability by allowing growers to start early and to continue late through a controlled climate. The UGSL program also focuses on creating landscape management options and urban garden opportunities for customers that live in inner-city areas. Urban gardens help us to commune with nature, interact with individuals of all ages, grow healthy food products, and add some physical activity to our lives. 8 Alabama Cooperative Extension System

9 Human Nutrition, Diet, and Health Escalating medical costs due to poor health leads to debt and can result in tax and other economic challenges for Alabama citizens. Everyone benefits from a healthy Alabama. Extension s nutrition education programs are designed to improve the knowledge, skills, and health of individuals and families by providing education on general nutrition, food selection, food preparation, food safety, and food purchasing and security. The Urban Nutrition Education Program (UNEP) and the Urban Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (UEFNEP), funded by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), have expanded outreach to new and nontraditional audiences. Both UNEP and UEFNEP service limited-resource families and individuals to improve knowledge, skills, and behavior for better health. The Community Health, Aerobics and Motivation Program Initiating Optimal Nutrition (CHAMPION) targets youth and adults to provide interactive education that is designed to improve eating habits, to increase physical activity, and to decrease chronic disease risk factors. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans produced by the USDA and the United States Department of Health and Human Services recommend that our daily diet includes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free milk products, lean meats, and other foods that are low in fat, cholesterol, sodium, and sugar. Families United through Nutrition or FUN seeks to enhance and capitalize on planned family mealtime to extend educational outreach. The program promotes increased nutrition knowledge for all family members, encourages increased consumption of fruits and vegetables, educates families on chronic diseases, and supports improved food safety practices. Urban Extension s programs on nutrition, diet and health are geared toward helping individuals and families to eat healthier, to safely prepare foods, and to include a minimum of minutes of physical activity daily. Urban Extension Program Initiatives at ACES 9

10 Where We re Located... The Alabama Cooperative Extension System has a network of professionals that are housed within all 67 counties in Alabama. In addition, ACES has seven research centers, a Family Life Center, and nine Urban Centers with dedicated staff that are ready to collaborate with colleges and universities and local, state, and federal organizations to provide quality research-based information through its programming efforts. Also, capitalizing on the delivery and information exchange potential of technology, extension ( provides an interactive learning environment that directly links consumers with Extension subject matter experts from across the nation. Map of Alabama and its 67 counties. Funding and support are provided through local and state government and the USDA s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. Urban Affairs conducts outreach through its headquarters located in the James I. Dawson Building on the campus of AAMU, a Family Life Center located in Huntsville, and its nine Urban Centers across the state. The Urban Centers serve populations in 21 counties (Autauga, Baldwin, Blount, Calhoun, Colbert, Dale, Elmore, Etowah, Houston, Jefferson, Lauderdale, Lawrence, Limestone, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, Morgan, Shelby, St. Claire, Tuscaloosa, and Walker). 10 Alabama Cooperative Extension System

11 Urban Centers Your Guide to Urban Extension Programs in Alabama #1 Anniston/Gadsden Calhoun County Extension Office County Administration Building 1702 Noble Street, Suite 108 Anniston, AL Phone: (256) / Fax: (256) #2 Birmingham Jefferson County Extension Office 2121 Building, Suite th Avenue North Birmingham, AL Phone: (205) / Fax: (205) #3 Decatur Morgan County Extension Office 3120 Highway 36 West, Suite B Hartselle, AL Phone: (256) / Fax: (256) #4 Dothan Houston County Extension Office Farm Center Building 1699 Ross Clark Circle, Suite 4 Dothan, AL Phone: (334) / Fax: (334) #5 Florence Lauderdale County Extension Office 802 Veterans Drive Florence, AL Phone: (256) / Fax: (256) #6 Huntsville Madison County Extension Office Charles Stone Agricultural Center 819 Cook Avenue Huntsville, AL Phone: (256) / Fax: (256) Family Life Center 228-F Binford Drive Huntsville, AL (256) / Fax: (256) #7 Montgomery Montgomery County Extension Office Two East Office Center 400 Eastern Boulevard, Suite 107 Montgomery, AL Phone: (334) / Fax: (334) #8 Mobile Mobile County Extension Office Jon Archer Agricultural Center 1070 Schillinger Road North Mobile, AL Phone: (251) / Fax: (251) #9 Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa County Extension Office th Street Tuscaloosa County Courthouse Annex Tuscaloosa, AL Phone: (205) / Fax: (205) Contact Information Alabama Cooperative Extension System Urban Affairs and New Nontraditional Programs P.O. Box 967 Normal, AL Phone: (256) / Fax: (256) Visit us online at or download the mobile app at Urban Extension Program Initiatives at ACES 11

12 References Demographics of the United States. (2012, June 1). In Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. Retrieved from United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. (2006, October 13). Case info. Knight & Sims vs. Alabama. Retrieved from Jannie Carter, PhD, Extension Assistant Director, Alabama A&M University For more information, call your county Extension office. Look in your telephone directory under your county s name to find the number. Published by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System (Alabama A&M University and Auburn University), an equal opportunity educator and employer. New July 2012, UNP-0136 UNP by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. All rights reserved.