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NEWSLETTER ISSUE #70 | Rural Opportunity Institute Monthly Update |
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Edgecombe County School Resource Officer Trainings Successfully Completed | In August, ROI achieved a significant milestone by providing trauma-informed training to eight Edgecombe County School Resource Officers (SROs). ROI has now trained all SROs in the county, after starting in 2022 based on requests from community members. During the trainings, SROs learn about how to connect with students and how to use de-escalation techniques. We appreciate the collaboration and leadership of Edgecombe County Public Schools and the Sheriff’s Office, as well as the SROs who participated. The success of this program stems from our community-led policy approach, through which local residents and agencies identify issue areas to work on. | |  |
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Celebrating Tarboro's Young Civic Leaders | In August, ROI celebrated the successful Tarboro Young Civic Leaders Internship program, a partnership with Tarboro Parks & Rec. Three high school students who interned with Tarboro town government shared their positive experiences with town council members, ROI staff, community members, and the Town Manager, Troy Lewis. This event showcased ROI's work in trauma-informed workforce development, addressing the need for youth employment and town service capacity. The interns' stories marked not only the success of the program but also their personal milestones in their initial job experiences. Thanks to the Town of Tarboro and the Tarboro Town Council for their support of this program, including funding interns’ stipends. Tarboro is one of the first communities in rural eastern NC to pass a budget that includes funding for innovative youth workforce programs. We’re excited to keep building our trauma-informed workforce development programs with communities throughout the region. |
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ROI Holds First In-Person Policy Listening Session | Since 2021, ROI has held a monthly policy listening session where community members can voice their thoughts on local issues. In August, we hosted our first in-person session in, where we discussed topics ranging from youth employment to teenage pregnancy. We’re thankful for the chance to spend time together in person and in person, but for the ideas that community members shared during the session. Our policy listening sessions directly shape the programs that we create, like our SRO trainings and youth internship programs. We’d love to have you join our next meeting. See below for more information about our next policy listening session. |
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September Policy Listening Session | Our next policy listening session will be held virtually on September 27, 2023 at 12:00 p.m. ET via Zoom. This session offers community members the chance to discuss their thoughts on policy issues with ROI staff. If you’d like to join the meeting, please email graham@ruralopportunity.org for a calendar invitation. |
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Recovery Together ENC Conference | On October 13th, Recovery Together will host their very first conference at Wayne Community College in Goldsboro from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. This conference will provide information about recovery-related topics, including messaging, medication assisted treatment, and more. The Recovery Together team is excited to feature Dr. Stephen Lloyd as the keynote speaker. Dr. Lloyd is a person in recovery, an advocate for others in recovery and the creator of the Hulu docuseries Dopesick. | | | Register here |
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Contractor Spotlight: Get to Know Graham Palmer | Graham first joined ROI as a Small Bets Lab intern in 2021, and stayed involved in our policy work while finishing a dual MBA/MA degree program with the Wharton School and the Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies. He’s recently stepped into a new role with ROI as our Director of Systems Innovation and Policy, with the goal of growing our policy work. Graham’s previous experience includes working in consulting and social enterprise in the US and abroad.
Graham is excited to be working with ROI because it’s “the best of both worlds.” “I love that ROI emphasizes systems change…and maintains deep community connection,” he says. As a UNC grad (go Tarheels!) Graham is thrilled to be back in North Carolina!
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Try ROI’s Biofeedback Breathing Program at Your Organization | Biofeedback breathing is a powerful tech solution to address stress related to trauma. At ROI we’ve used it in schools, social service offices and other environments, and we’ve seen it reduce anxiety symptoms in participants by up to 57%. Our biofeedback breathing program supports participants in navigating stressful situations through easy breathing exercises, and measures their progress with helpful digital tools. Learn more about biofeedback breathing and how to bring this program to your community. | | | Learn more |
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 | Learning From Frontline Communities | Frontline communities, like rural eastern North Carolina, are places that are often hard-hit climate change, economic inequality and other systemic issues. There’s a lot we can learn from the ways that frontline communities tackle difficult problems.Read this blog post to learn more about the opportunities for collaboration and innovation in frontline communities. | | | Read the article |
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 | How Constraints Improve Organizations & Lead to Breakthroughs | Creating your own startup is no small feat, especially when constraints like small budgets and minimal resources are at play. At ROI, we believe constraints can be positive. ;They challenge us to think bigger and find creative solutions to our problems. Read this blog post to gain some insight into how we’ve made our own constraints work for us. | | | Read the article |
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ROI supports people's healing process by educating, reshaping systemic practices, and fostering deep-rooted connections. We know people are not to blame for the trauma and stress that impacts them. Resilience is an inner strength in all humans, regardless of background, and we as people are wired for connection and healing. We strive to end generational cycles of trauma and poverty by preventing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and toxic stress for the community in rural Eastern North Carolina. Often, social innovation processes leave out rural communities of color. We believe in and know the deep assets that exist in rural communities like ours, and seek to smash together disparate worlds to change the narrative commonly held about rural communities. |
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