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MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
| May 2025 | | |
Dear Friends,
Welcome back for our May updates! Thanks for making time for us to share our work with you.
The ROI team embraced our competitive side this April as we held our second annual team March Madness bracket competition. Vichi won the women's bracket, correctly choosing UConn to win it all. La'Shanda won the men's bracket, beating out Johnathon Brunson in a nail biter and correctly choosing Florida to bring home the victory. In other basketball news, Vichi has been enjoying a great season for the New York Knicks and even attended a game at Madison Square Garden with her brother. She is looking forward to rooting for them in the NBA playoffs this month. Who is cheering you on as you pursue your goals?
We've got exciting updates in store, including new youth programming opportunities and community partnerships. You’ll also learn how we’re leveraging systems mapping as a tool for community resilience and violence prevention.
Onward! Vichi and Seth |
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On the Edgecombe
| Our team expanded last month with Turquoise Freeman joining us as our new Youth Mentor! She will support our upcoming youth group, On the Edgecombe (OTE).We’re recruiting 7th-12th graders in Edgecombe County and surrounding areas who are ready to grow, connect, and lead. OTE is a trauma-informed teen space that provides opportunities for mentorship, creative expression, relationship building, and fun activities. Stay tuned for details about our upcoming Kick Off Event. In the meantime, share the application link below with teens in your community. | |
| Apply for OTE
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kNot Today Collaboration |
We’ve built a partnership with kNot Today, an organization dedicated to ending the sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking of children in the United States. We’re supporting them with developing a systems map to better understand the forces that enable child sexual abuse and identify high-impact opportunities to enhance prevention efforts across N.C. We look forward to creating new opportunities for community resilience and healing through this work. Learn more about kNot Today at the link below. | |
| Learn More
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Vichi Attends SAVIR Conference
| Vichi headed to The Big Apple to attend the Society for Advancement of Violence and Injury Research Conference in April. She co-led an engaging workshop on systems mapping in collaboration with colleagues from the UNC Injury Prevention Research Center. We're proud to highlight our commitment to innovation and knowledge-sharing to address the root causes of complex issues. Interested in systems-mapping training and support for your organization? Learn more about our approach and request a training session via the link below. | |
| ROI Systems Mapping
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Seth at ASU+GSV Summit |
Seth kicked off April in San Diego for the ASU+GSV Summit. The event aims to highlight opportunities for innovation in education and workforce development to ensure that all people have equal access to the future. Seth enjoyed making new connections and catching up with familiar faces like Molly O'Donnell on the New Profit team. Check out the link below learn about the event and register for next year's Summit. | |
| ASU+GSV Summit
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Community Impact Spotlight
2025 Southeastern School Behavioral Health Conference |
La’Shanda Person, Innovation Program Manager, presented at the 2025 Southeastern School Behavioral Health Conference. Alongside Heidi Austin, Jeannie Kerr, and Meagan Crews—a team of NC Project AWARE Directors and Medicaid Learning Collaborative cohort members, she shared valuable insight with conference attendees about how to approach the Medicaid reimbursement process for school behavioral health initiatives.
Heidi Austin won the "2025 School Behavioral Health Champion" award and Jeannie Kerr was presented with the "Northeastern School Behavioral Health Conference Certificate of Excellence". We’re proud to be partnered with fierce advocates for access to school-based mental health services and excited to continue sharing our knowledge for the benefit of students and school employees statewide. If you’re interested in getting free hands-on support with the Medicaid reimbursement process for your public or charter school, complete the application to join the upcoming Medicaid Learning Collaborative 2025-26 Cohort. We’re here to support you with building capacity for resilience in your school.
Learn more about the MLC 2025-26 Cohort and apply here.
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2025 Young Civic Leaders (YCL) Internship Application | We’re offering paid summer internships to high school students in Eastern N.C. You’ll get hands-on experience, build skills, and be mentored by local professionals. Support your community while investing in your future. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through May 19, 2025.
Apply Today
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Learning Opportunity: NC Medicaid Expansion |
In just over a year —twice as fast as projected—North Carolina brought affordable health coverage to more than 600,000 through Medicaid expansion. Medicaid is the critical component of our work to expand mental health access in schools. A new video and comprehensive report by Neimand Collaborative highlight how NCDHHS, NC Medicaid and partners across the state worked together to achieve this incredible milestone.
Watch the video
Read the report
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Johnathan Brunson Featured on Generation N.O.W Podcast |
Johnathon Brunson, Resilience Trainer and Community Accountability Board Member, was featured on a Generation N.O.W. Podcast episode about Black Men in Social Work. Johnathon is a long-time ROI collaborator and pillar of our community. We're excited to see him use this platform to share his insight and inspire others interested in pursuing social work.
Watch the Podcast | |
Support an ROI Community Member—Resilience Cards for Purchase |
Support a local trauma therapist and ROI community member by pre-ordering a deck of resilience cards. This deck is designed to empower and support you through various aspects of your journey within the 2SLGBTQ+ community. Using the evidence based practice, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) modality, each card provides practical strategies and inspirations across different areas of life, such as Safety and Protection, Social Acceptance, Self-Acceptance, and Dealing with Discrimination.
Pre-Order Cards |
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RSVP for May Policy Listening Session |
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For anyone local to Nash, Edgecombe, and Wilson counties here in North Carolina: Join us virtually on Thursday, May 29, 2025 from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. EST to discuss important policy matters that affect our community. This session is open to all who are interested in sharing their thoughts and ideas. Let's come together to listen, learn, and collaborate on ways to make a positive impact. Don't miss this opportunity to have your voice heard!
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| RSVP for the 5/29 session
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Rural Opportunity Institute supports youth, organizations and communities to interrupt the cycle of generational trauma and design innovative solutions for healing and resilience.
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