UNCA's Student Health Ambassador program gets $173,845 in grant funds

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — A program designed to support the health of students and faculty at UNC Asheville is getting a financial boost.

The Dogwood Health Trust has awarded almost $174,000 to the Student Health Ambassador program.

At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, student health ambassadors on campus went to work to make sure that their classmates in quarantine isolation received the connection and nourishment they needed.

“Their role was swabbing noses or delivering meals, writing really beautiful notes or even creating workout guides to students who were in Q/I for two weeks,” Student Health Ambassador Program Manager Kol Gold-Leighton said in a news release.

The Mountain Area Health Education Center is a partner in the program.

PROGRAM HELPS COLLEGES LIKE UNCA NAVIGATE HEALTH ISSUES SUCH AS COVID-19

The $173,845 grant will fund a new campus community health needs assessment survey, created in collaboration with Institutions of Higher Education SHA program leaders. This grant will benefit all six campuses participating in the Student Health Ambassador program — also known as the WNC Collaborative Network for Campus-Community Peer Support and Health Education project — including Brevard College, Mars Hill University, Montreat College, Warren Wilson College and Western Carolina University.

"This was a grassroots effort to have students, the community, help heal the campus community, by having students at the forefront of making that conscious choice to be advocates for harm-reductive practices. So, putting on a mask or providing care for those in quarantine and isolation,” Gold-Leighton said.

UNCA, BUNCOMBE COUNTY TO PARTNER FOR ACTIVE AGING CENTER

The program has, so-far, been guided largely by the majors and interests of the student ambassadors. The grant will help inform the program with data on the student body’s needs. Through the surveys, students will share their top priorities and the SHA program can tailor its efforts to address those needs and fill those gaps first.