Department of Public Health and Exercise Science

The mission of App State's Public Health AmeriCorps is to foster meaningful relationships, develop public health professionals, and bolster community resilience and preparedness in western North Carolina by addressing local public health inequities through service, volunteerism, and evidence-based interventions.

Every day in communities across the country, AmeriCorps members and AmeriCorps Seniors volunteers work directly with national, regional, or local nonprofit and community organizations to meet critical community needs.

Public Health AmeriCorps members will be leading the dissemination and implementation of Psychological First Aid (PFA) interventions to communities, organizations, and professionals.

Meeting Needs in Western North Carolina

In the Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina, local health departments have identified a major need for mental health interventions to support health preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery:

• 72% of children in NC with diagnosed behavior conditions have not met with a licensed mental health provider
• Western NC saw suicide rates double from 2014-2018
  • 10-24 year olds in western NC are at a 30% higher risk of suicide and 65 and older have a 22% higher risk
  • 1,398 suicides occurred during 2014-2018, 80.5% were male and 72.9% were white or caucasian
  • 19.7 is the average age of suicide

Services will be provided across 25 different counties in western North Carolina: Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Cherokee, Clay, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, McDowell, Mitchell, Polk, Rutherford, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, Wilkes, Yancey.

Are you an App State alumni interested in Public Health AmeriCorps? Visit our Public Health AmeriCorps App State Alumni website (requires Google login)!