Furman University and LiveWell Greenville Updates and Community Engagement Efforts

Community Engagement Coalition

LiveWell Greenville’s Community Engagement Coalition has been focused on evaluating the impacts of its Equity and Public Health Initiative, which formally wrapped funded efforts in September 2025. In collaboration with Furman University, the LiveWell team is collecting information from key partners to help shape future coalition initiatives. In addition, Greenville’s Heal Equity Action Leaders Board (HEAL Board) marked its second year with a celebration of the board’s accomplishments in October. The board currently consists of approximately 25 community members passionate about creating systems changes that make Greenville more welcoming for all. Most recently, members of the board were active in helping Greenville County’s Food Security Coalition respond to the food security crisis created by the disruption of SNAP benefits payments in November 2025 due to the federal government shut-down. These responses included helping to resupply pantries, delivering food to neighbors, and sharing insight on how to best respond to the crisis. conducting focus groups in preparation for qualitative data collection. Pilot focus groups were conducted in November and early December in both English and Spanish to test and refine the focus group guide. Each pilot group included seven community participants who shared perspectives on visible, hidden, and invisible forms of community power in their areas of South Carolina. These sessions provided valuable insights and led to minor modifications related to focus group length, topic transitions, and managing interruptions. The team looks forward to continued recruitment and data collection in the first quarter of 2026.

Community Power Research (Amplify SC)

The research team has finalized recruitment materials and measurement tools in both English and Spanish, working closely with the Roots & Research Community Research Advisory Board to ensure materials were clear, accessible, and visually engaging for community members and leaders.

In November, the team held an internal training focused on conducting focus groups in preparation for qualitative data collection. Pilot focus groups were conducted in November and early December in both English and Spanish to test and refine the focus group guide. Each pilot group included seven community participants who shared perspectives on visible, hidden, and invisible forms of community power in their areas of South Carolina. These sessions provided valuable insights and led to minor modifications related to focus group length, topic transitions, and managing interruptions. The team looks forward to continued recruitment and data collection in the first quarter of 2026.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Furman University welcomed its second postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Kinsey Meggett. Dr. Meggett is a recent doctoral graduate from Clemson University, where her work focused on the association between place-based residence and cancer diagnosis and survival in the United States. She joined the team to further develop her knowledge and skills in community-based participatory research (CBPR).
This opportunity builds on her previous community-based research focused on food access and physical activity infrastructure in rural South Carolina communities.

Dr. Meggett has also collaborated with a healthcare architecture team examining the impact of the built environment on health outcomes from a city-planning and architectural perspective.

Dr. Meggett is passionate about mentorship and leadership. In addition to engaging in qualitative research with this project, she looks forward to developing skills that will position her to lead a community-based organization and contribute to improved community health outcomes.

HEAL Board

The HEAL Board concluded the year with a meeting on December 3, during which Furman University evaluated the board’s work completed in 2025. During the holiday season, several HEAL Board members, along with Susan Frantz of the LiveWellGreenville Food Security Coalition, participated in packing holiday meal kits for families in the community. In 2026, the HEAL Board will continue its work in partnership with LiveWell Greenville and the Furman IACH team.

Roots and Research

The Roots & Research Community Research Advisory Board completed two research reviews during the final quarter of 2025. These reviews included feedback on visual representations of visible, hidden, and invisible power for a CBPR focus group guide, as well as feedback on a literature review emphasizing bi-directional engagement within community advisory boards.

In December 2025, Roots & Research hosted an optional virtual board meeting in the form of a coffee and tea chat. During the meeting, members shared favorite foods and discussed their cultural, religious, and experiential significance. Participants also shared photos and recipes in the chat, and plans for a future Roots & Research potluck are underway.

Postdoctoral Fellows

Furman University and LiveWell Greenville welcomed two postdoctoral fellows to the Community-Driven Research Approaches team starting in September 2025:

• Dr. Abass Babatunde, the first postdoctoral fellow, joined the team from Clemson University. He brings a strong interest in evaluating public health interventions. During his fellowship, Dr. Babatunde aims to strengthen his qualitative research skills in preparation for a future tenure-track faculty position.

• In January, the team will welcome Kinsey Meggett, a PhD candidate at Clemson University, as the second postdoctoral fellow. Meggett, a fourth-year doctoral candidate, focuses her research on the systematic components of population dynamics and is scheduled to defend her dissertation in October 2025. During her fellowship, she will work closely with LiveWell Greenville’s leadership to build expertise in community-driven research and enhance her leadership skills as a community-based organization leader.

Community Partnerships

HEAL Board Milestone
The HEAL Board, a community advisory board, celebrated its second year of service. Over the past two years, members have grown as multicultural advocates for their communities in Greenville, SC. Looking ahead, the HEAL Board will not only advise but also take the lead in planning, designing, and implementing action projects. These projects, rooted in service and advocacy, will ensure that community voices remain central to advancing health equity. The board’s leadership reflects the deep commitment and expertise that community members bring to shaping healthier futures.

In September 2025, the team hosted two community presentations. Sabrina Smith of the Active Living Coalition introduced LiveWell Greenville’s plan for four upcoming community walk audits in Berea, Greenville County, SC. These audits will allow residents to evaluate how easy and safe it is to access neighborhood resources, while identifying both supports and barriers to walkability. Feedback gathered will directly inform improvements in local environments.

Additionally, Toya Moore facilitated a training on community building, encouraging members to reflect on the distinctions between community building and community organizing. The training challenged participants to think deeply about their ultimate goals in galvanizing their communities, further strengthening the HEAL Board’s leadership and vision for equity-driven change.

Roots & Research Update

As of Summer 2025, the Roots & Research advisory board has now completed its full training and successfully conducted its first research review. This milestone marks the beginning of a new model for partnership in Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR). The board’s work provides a platform for members to share expertise, build meaningful partnerships, and engage in open dialogue with researchers committed to authentic CBPR practices. Their insights and lived experiences add essential value to research design and practice, reinforcing the importance of community-driven approaches to health equity.

Food Pantry Summit

On March 12, 2025, LiveWell Greenville hosted a Food Pantry Summit attended by 65 champions representing food pantries from across the region. The summit focused on enhancing pantry operations through culturally appropriate offerings, promoting healthier food choices, embracing client choice pantry models, and exploring the use of artificial intelligence to improve fundraising and distribution models.

LiveWell Greenville’s HEAL Board

The HEAL Board of LiveWell Greenville is a community engagement board composed of members from across Greenville County, who are passionate about advancing healthy eating, active living, and fostering a sense of belonging. Established in 2021, the board has been actively developing a co-created recruitment model for new members – shifting from a community-informed to a community-led process. Prospective members are invited to attend the April board meeting before deciding whether to join.

Building Brighter Tomorrows through Community Health Innovations

This spring, the Institute for the Advancement of Community Health (IACH) continued to promote innovation and collaboration through a series of grant-related initiatives. The annual Community Health Forum, Building Brighter Tomorrows through Community Health Innovations, featured Dr. Brian Castrucci of the de Beaumont Foundation as the keynote speaker. Following the forum, grant team members participated in a specialized workshop titled Talking Health: A New Way to Communicate About Public Health. 

South Carolina Public Health Association’s Annual Meeting

At the South Carolina Public Health Association’s Annual Meeting in Myrtle Beach, IACH Post-doctoral Training Coordinator Megan Richmond represented the program to promote its community engagement fellowship. On March 11, 2025, Dr. Melissa Fair led a dynamic panel discussion on the role of authentic community input in shaping research, urban planning, health assessments, and care delivery.

National Nutrition Month Event

In honor of National Nutrition Month, Hannah McKinnon, Project Research Associate, and Dr. Abagail Horton, Research and Evaluation Manager, volunteered with FoodShare to pack produce boxes. Their efforts supported increased access to fresh, affordable produce in the local community.

IACH and LiveWell Greenville Retreat

On April 4, 2025, the Institute for the Advancement of Community Health and LiveWell Greenville’s Partner Hub hosted a full-day retreat for grant project partners. Utilizing community-based participatory research (CBPR) tools, attendees co-created a shared “River of Life”, clarified partner roles, and identified a collective North Star to guide their future collaborative and equity-centered efforts.