Service Learning at COE

Apr. 29, 2009. COE sponsors a sustained service learning experience in McDowell County, WV. The purpose of this experience is to enhance students’ cultural competence regarding impoverished communities and foster civic engagement. Faculty, alumni, and students work closely with Aid for America, a non-profit organization (www.aidforamerica.org), to develop sustainable volunteer projects. The students live in facilities provided by the Aid for America Organization and work closely with the program’s leadership for civic engagement activities.

Specifically, students live and work in Welch, WV, which is located in McDowell County. Currently, McDowell is the eighth poorest County in the United States. Currently the population is composed of 79% white, 19% African-American, and 1% Hispanic residents of whom 40% lives below the poverty line. It has suffered for nearly fifty years as mining and other industry has closed or moved away. The number of people under the age of 18 in poverty is over 50%. Unemployment stands at over 10%. Students will work closely with other volunteers, community leaders, and residents of all ages.

If you are interested in joining our efforts by proposing a project, joining a trip, or assisting with fundraising, please contact the project coordinator, Dr. Mary Slade, at slademl@jmu.edu.

See the trip chronicle for the trip at the group wiki: http://wiki.coe.jmu.edu/DisasterReliefII.

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