NC Center for Health and Wellness at UNC Asheville

02/12/2026

NCCHW at NC PACE 2026 ✨🏫

NCCHW Team Members Alex Mitchell, Soni Pitts, and Ameena Batada enjoyed the opportunity to present at NC Campus Engagement's NC PACE Conference at Elon University this week! 🎤✨

Our team's poster, “Civic Learning through Student Engagement in Policy Research and Advocacy,” highlighted processes, products, and reflections related to student engagement. We also facilitated a meaningful community conversation about shifting language and practices around civic and community engagement on college campuses across North Carolina. 🤝🌍

We’re grateful for the opportunity to learn alongside partners committed to strengthening community-engaged work throughout our state! 💙

Learn more about the NC PACE Conference: https://nccampusengagement.org/pace-conference/

02/03/2026

📸 We’re sharing a recent video produced by MANNA FoodBank that highlights Bountiful Cities Project’s Share Market, one of the projects our team is currently researching.

🥕 The Share Market is a free food distribution model that invites community gardeners to share excess produce with neighbors and increase urban food production for long-term resilience. The market takes place twice a month on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays, from 3–5 p.m. at William Randolph School on Montford Avenue, in partnership with Asheville City Schools and Buncombe County Master Gardeners.

Through this work, our Culture of Results team is examining the impacts of this model and its potential for adaptation in other communities.

🙏 Thank you to Cathy, Alex, and Shuvonda for speaking about the Share Market in this video!



https://www.facebook.com/reel/1678115120273515

01/29/2026

🎉 Student Researchers Are Ready to Go! 🎉

We’re excited to welcome UNCA Health Sciences students Patti McCoy and Noah Richardson, who are kicking off food-related research with the NC Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) this semester. 🙌

Opportunities like this are so important—hands-on research experiences open doors for students to enter the fields of public health, nutrition, and applied research, especially on behalf of the communities we live in.

Patti and Noah are pictured here with NCCHW team members Alex Mitchell and Ameena Batada at Bountiful Cities’ Share Market, where learning, service, and community health come together. 💚

We’re proud to support student pathways into research and public health—and we can’t wait to see where they go!

12/22/2025

We’re proud to share that our NCCHW colleague was recently featured in The Citizen Times with an opinion piece reflecting on partnerships formed in Western North Carolina following Hurricane Helene.

Her voice highlights the importance of collaboration, leadership, and community-centered work during recovery efforts.

👉 Read the op-ed here:
https://www.citizen-times.com/story/opinion/2025/12/21/partnerships-formed-post-helene-helping-recovery-resilience/87811939007/

Please take a moment to read and share.

Over the past year since Helene we have grown stronger through reconstruction and remembrance, recovery and resilience.

12/17/2025

✨❄️ Winter greetings from the NC Center for Health & Wellness at UNC Asheville ❄️✨

As the year comes to a close, we’re feeling grateful for the people and partnerships that make our work possible. At the NC Center for Health & Wellness, we support a wide range of efforts—from health promotion and prevention, to research, education, and community collaboration—all grounded in public health and focused on improving well-being across Western North Carolina and beyond.

This season offers a moment to reflect on how health is shaped not only by individual choices, but by systems, environments, and the care we show one another. We’re thankful to work alongside students, faculty, staff, and community partners who are committed to creating healthier, more connected communities.

Wishing you a restful and healthy winter season. 💙

12/01/2025

🎉 Hey UNCA Health Sciences students! Need a little boost as the semester wraps up?

The Health Sciences Department and the NC Center for Health and Wellness are hosting BOOST: Break for Outreach, Optimism, Study Support, and Treats! Stop by our office suite in the Sherrill Center & Kimmel Arena on Tuesdays, 12/2 and 12/9, anytime between 8am–3pm for free coffee, tea, treats, and pep talks. ☕🍪💬

Take a moment for yourself, recharge, and finish the semester strong! 💪

11/27/2025

🌟 Spotlight on Student Research: Understanding Our Health Care Workforce Shortage

The NC Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) at UNC Asheville is proud to highlight Emma Hoosier, one of our student interns, for her recent presentation at the University of North Carolina Asheville’s Research and Creativity Symposium on November 18th. Emma’s research takes a deep look at the health care workforce shortage in Western North Carolina and the complex factors contributing to it — including:

🧒 Childcare
🦠 COVID-19 impacts
🎓 Education & training pathways
🏠 Housing & transportation
🏥 Practice and system finances
👩‍⚕️ Representation in the workforce
🔥 Workplace burnout

Her project is part of her work toward the Research Scholar Designation at UNC Asheville, and she will be submitting her paper to the UNCA Undergraduate Research Journal as the next step in that process.

Emma also joined the WNC Health Policy Initiative podcast earlier this year, where she shared more about her findings and what they mean for health care access in our region. We encourage anyone interested in workforce challenges — and potential solutions — to give it a listen.

🎧 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wnc-health-policy-initiative-hpi-podcast/id1746162226?i=1000720794803

At NCCHW, we remain committed to supporting students entering the public health workforce and advancing research that strengthens the health and well-being of North Carolina.

👏 Congratulations, Emma — and thank you for contributing your work to the efforts to strengthen our healthcare systems!

11/25/2025

🌟 Lessons Learned from Health Care Leaders During Hurricane Helene on the WNC HPI Podcast

The 3rd part of a WNC Health Policy Initiative Podcast mini-series is now live — offering an early look at results from recent study “Lessons Learned from Health Care Leaders During Hurricane Helene.”
A full written report will be released at the beginning of the new year.

This research process, conducted by the NC Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) at UNC Asheville and the Health Policy Initiative with funding by the North Carolina Collaboratory, has been followed in real time on the podcast:

Part 1 shared some background on the study
Part 2 walked us through the methodology
Part 3, out today, brings listeners into the findings and emerging recommendations

Alex Nielson Mitchell and Soni Pitts discuss what health care leaders across North Carolina experienced during Hurricane Helene, organized into four key areas:
🔹 General Themes
🔹 Strengths
🔹 Challenges &
🔹 Recommendations

These insights shed light on what supported effective disaster responses, where our healthcare systems struggled, and what improvements are needed to strengthen resilience to disaster across the state.

🎧 Listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-wnc-health-policy-initiative-hpi-podcast/id1746162226?i=1000738342008

🔍 Related Case Study — Now Available
After hearing from healthcare leaders, you may be interested to learn more about first responder healthcare providers during Helene in a case study authored by WNC HPI Podcast host, Andrew Rainey, MPH. The case study highlights the rapid, community-based work of grassroots health care providers in the Mutual Aid Wellness Collective during the earliest days after the storm and how it may be a model for responses to ongoing manmade disasters in the future.

Read it here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BZ2yaE7_rL7NtLUal1sYvwz80qNDUF7k/view?usp=sharing

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https://open.spotify.com/episode/04KI2jIorpva9AJS7gx6u0?si=1fd457609013401c

The WNC Health Policy Initiative (HPI) Podcast · Episode

11/25/2025

📈Highlighting STEPtember Findings and Undergraduate Research in Falls Prevention 🎓

The NC Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) at UNC Asheville is pleased to recognize both the outcomes of this year’s STEPtember Initiative and the scholarly contributions of Janaki Beharrysingh, a University of North Carolina Asheville Community Engaged Scholar who presented her work at the Undergraduate Research and Creativity Symposium on November 18.

STEPtember, coordinated by the NC Falls Prevention Coalition, engages individuals and organizations across North Carolina in a month-long walking challenge designed to increase physical activity and raise awareness about fall prevention. The initiative continues to strengthen community participation in evidence-based strategies that support mobility, independence, and healthy aging.

As part of her Community Engaged Scholar project, Janaki collaborated with Ellen B. and the NC Falls Prevention Coalition to examine the processes and impact of STEPtember. Her work contributes to a growing understanding of how statewide health promotion campaigns function and how they can be improved to support population-level fall prevention efforts.

NCCHW remains committed to supporting student engagement in public health practice and research. Partnerships like this exemplify how academic inquiry and community collaboration can inform program evaluation and enhance public health initiatives and workforce entry points across the state.

11/20/2025

Excited to share insights from our recent presentation at the WNC Health Policy Initiative: A Focused Policy Scan of the North Carolina General Assembly 2025–2026 Legislative Session & Spreadsheet Demo.

Last Friday highlighted the incredible work of one of our regional MPH graduates, Albert Chow, MPH, CHESⓇ, who led a comprehensive scan of legislative activity shaping health policy across North Carolina. His analysis provides an early look at where lawmakers have been focusing—or may soon focus—their attention in the General Assembly.

🔎 By creating a Ranked Policy Scan Spreadsheet, Albert found:
• ~1,800 bills filed
• 315 bills included in the preliminary review
• 276 bills contained at least one health policy topic (HPT)
• The most frequently occurring HPTs were Housing, Mental Health, and Child Care

📊 Top Policy Topic Occurrences
Housing: 137
Mental Health: 82
Child Care: 45
Substance Use: 38
Health Insurance Coverage: 32
Helene-related legislation: 27
Food Security: 12
Social Determinants of Health: 2
Graduate Medical Education: 1

These findings underscore the interconnected nature of health and policy—and the importance of monitoring how state-level legislation may shape community well-being across North Carolina.👏 A huge thank you to everyone involved in the WNC Health Policy Initiative for creating space to translate analysis into action and for supporting emerging public health leaders.

🔗 If you’re interested in health policy tracking, cross-sector collaboration, or legislative analysis tools, check out the Health Policy Updates page:

Check in for weekly updates on state-level health policies relevant to the WNC Health Policy Initiative and Western North Carolina.

11/18/2025

🪴 Hands-On Public Health: Volunteering at Verner Center

A couple of our NC Center for Health and Wellness (NCCHW) at UNC Asheville staff had the pleasure of volunteering at the Verner Center for Early Learning garden and outdoor classroom this week! 🙏Thanks for representing, Michenna Livengood and Katie Cox!

As University of North Carolina Asheville employees, we’re grateful for community service leave, which allows us to support local nonprofits doing important work. Being outdoors, planting, and caring for a garden is not just rewarding—it’s also a reminder of how nature, fresh air, and hands-on activity support both physical and mental health.

Thank you also to the Verner Center for letting us contribute to a space that nurtures children, families, and the broader community. If you’re interested in volunteering or learning more about their programs, you can reach out directly to the Verner Center to get involved.

🥗 https://vernerearlylearning.org/verner-info/verner-experiential-gardens/

08/21/2025

El Centro de Salud y Bienestar de Carolina del Norte (NCCHW) se ha asociado con Smart Start del Condado de Transylvania para aprender más sobre la experiencia de personas que cuidan niños como familiares, amigos o vecinos en el oeste de Carolina del Norte — ¡y queremos escuchar su opinión!

El cuidado FFN (por sus siglas en inglés) se refiere al cuidado de niños que se brinda en el hogar del niño o en el hogar del cuidador, y lo ofrecen personas de confianza como abuelos, tías, tíos, amigos o vecinos. Este tipo de cuidado suele ser informal, pero es muy importante para muchas familias.

Los resultados de esta encuesta se usarán para apoyar mejor a quienes ofrecen este tipo de cuidado y para promover acceso a cuidado infantil de alta calidad para todos los niños.

La encuesta toma entre 10 y 15 minutos, y todas las respuestas son completamente anónimas. Al terminar, podrá participar en un sorteo para ganar una tarjeta de regalo Visa.

Si tiene preguntas sobre la encuesta o cómo se utilizarán sus respuestas, puede comunicarse con Alex Mitchell (anielson@unca.edu).
Enlaces a la encuesta:
Si usted cuida niños como familiar, amigo o vecino – https://forms.gle/jUYDzyqmKgJch4UB6
Si usted es papá o mamá de un niño que recibe este tipo de cuidado – https://forms.gle/92tYGG8ukAucbYNB9