Furman University and LiveWell Greenville Updates and Community Engagement Efforts

Bring Your Community Engagement Questions to Roots & Research

Roots & Research is a collective, multi-cultural group of people who are community-driven to create long-lasting, sustainable impact guided by empathy, compassion, integrity, and transparency.

We’re inviting community practitioners and organizations to bring a program, initiative, outreach effort, or community engagement challenge to our Community Research Advisory Board for community-informed feedback, ideas, and guidance.

You don’t need to be conducting research. If you’re wondering how to better connect with, engage, reach, or retain the people you serve, bring your questions to Roots & Research.

The Board can help you think through questions such as:

Outreach: How can we reach more people?

Engagement: How can we make participation more meaningful?

Reach: Who are we reaching—and who might we be missing?

Retention: What might help people stay involved?

Communication: How can we better connect with the communities we serve?

Program design: What could we do differently or better?

This is an opportunity to tap into community expertise and lived experience to strengthen your work and make sure the communities you’re trying to reach are meaningfully reflected in how programs are designed and delivered.

Interested in Joining? Fill out the interest survey here.

Have a question or challenge you’d like to bring to the Board? Contact us through the Roots & Research website: Roots & Research – Community Voices Driving Research & Change

HEAL Board recruitment

We started the recruitment process for the HEAL Board!

Key qualifications and commitment:

Greenville County neighbors, 18 years of age or older, who are willing to work within a diverse group and share lived experiences, perspectives.

Able to actively attend and participate in up to 10 (one per month) in-person meetings over 2 years. Each meeting will be approximately 2 hours long.

Lived experiences in food insecurity, unhealthy built environment, exclusion, isolation.

Timeline

August | Share the flyer

September 30 | Interest form close

October | Recruiting committee meetings

November | Interviews

December | Notifications to new HEAL Board members

January 2027 | First meeting, January 20

Community Engagement Coalition

Kickoff survey: How do you want to engage, results.

Since our kickoff, we’ve reached an exciting milestone: our Action Teams have officially begun meeting! We’ve held two sessions each with the Language Access Action Team and the HEAL Support Council — two groups with different focuses, but the same shared goal: building community and working together toward a better Greenville for all of us.

HEAL Board Photovoice project

In our August HEAL Board meeting, we introduced a new photovoice evaluation to help members reflect on their time with the board and how it has shaped their view of community, health equity, and access. Over the next two months, board members will be taking photographs that capture these reflections based on a set of prompts developed specifically for this project.

This evaluation builds on the Community Science Framework’s five core principles, which include relationship building, education, leadership, mobilizing to act, and capacity. Each principle was used to make a structured facilitation approach to help members connect their photos to their personal experience on the board. Results will be shared with the group once the photo collection and reflection sessions are complete at the beginning of October. We are looking forward to seeing the images that capture each board member’s experience and hear from them directly how they have viewed their time on the HEAL Board thus far.

HEAL Support Council

Together, we developed a work plan that brings together HEAL Board consultants and members, alumni, health system partners, and community organizations. The goal is to strengthen collective action and advocacy efforts in our neighborhoods.

Language Access Action Team

We also developed a work plan focused on connecting with agencies, organizations, and community spaces to make language access a normal, everyday part of how work gets done. This includes identifying opportunities, connecting neighbors to bilingual resources, and helping ensure everyone can communicate clearly, be understood, and have a real voice in decisions that affect their lives.

Seven members of the Language access Action Team, participated at the Prisma Health Language Access Summitt.

Hispanic Heritage Festival

Our Community Engagement Co-Director, Vanessa Rodríguez, had the honor of representing Puerto Rico at the AHAM Hispanic Heritage Festival!

This celebration creates opportunities for connection, culture, and education while helping build brighter futures for Hispanic students across the Upstate of South Carolina.

Through the festival, AHAM raises funds to provide college scholarships to Hispanic students in our community. Together, we’re investing in our community—one student, one scholarship, and one future at a time.

National Survey on Community-Engaged Research

Have you been part of a community-academic research partnership? Furman University and LiveWell Greenville want to hear from you!

They’re conducting a nationwide study on how Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) and other community-engaged approaches work in real-world settings. They want to know what helps partnerships work well, what challenges come up, and how community voices are included throughout the research process.

Key details:

Time: About 20 minutes

Thank you gift: $20 gift card

Eligibility: 18 or older, living in the U.S., and involved in a CBPR project as a community or academic partner

Interested? Scan the QR code on the flyer or email Hannah McKinnon at hannah.mckinnon6@furman.edu to take the survey.

Building Brighter Tomorrows Conference

The Institute for the Advancement of Community Health (IACH), in partnership with the Institute for Child Success (ICS), hosted the 2026 Building Brighter Tomorrows Conference at Furman University. Centered on the theme, A Pathway to Healthy Communities, the conference brought together practitioners, policymakers, researchers, educators, and community leaders from across the region to explore innovative approaches to advancing community health.

Participants attended twelve breakout sessions across three thematic tracks that addressed topics such as social drivers of health, caregiver support, trauma, resilience, and community-led solutions. The conference also featured a keynote presentation by Risa Wilkerson, Executive Director of Healthy Places by Design, and provided opportunities for networking, learning, and cross-sector collaboration through a welcome reception and poster session.

The event fostered meaningful dialogue and strengthened partnerships dedicated to advancing healthier and more equitable communities.

HEAL Board

The Health Equity Action Leaders (HEAL) Board continued advancing community-driven change by centering the voices, experiences, and leadership of Greenville County residents. During this period, a HEAL Board working group collaborated on the development of the board’s first white paper, which explored community power in South Carolina and highlighted key insights emerging from board activities and qualitative research findings.

Board member Ma’ta Crawford, who also served on the Roots & Research Community Research Advisory Board, was featured on the Community Health Exchange Podcast. During the discussion, she reflected on her experiences in community health leadership, the importance of “heart work,” and her aspirations for future generations of community changemakers.

The HEAL Board also continued advancing its core priorities by creating safe spaces for dialogue and action, strengthening member capacity related to policy, systems, and environmental change, and elevating community perspectives to ensure that coalition priorities and community change efforts remained grounded in lived experience.

As part of these efforts, board members participated in a Civic Engagement Action Series designed to strengthen community participation and leadership. Sessions focused on community building in March, civic voice in April, and storytelling in May, providing opportunities for residents to connect, share experiences, and develop skills for community action.

In addition, board members supported LiveWell Greenville’s Food Security Coalition through the Summer Break Café initiative, which aimed to connect children and families with nutritious meals during the summer months.

Roots and Research

Over the previous several months, the Roots & Research Community Research Advisory Board continued to strengthen its capacity and influence as a community-led research partner. Members participated in an in-person celebration where they shared identity statements, strengthened relationships, and participated in professional headshot sessions.

The board also reviewed several research projects and findings, including results from a scoping review and meta-analysis examining the use of community-based participatory research (CBPR) in cardiovascular disease interventions. Members further expanded their research knowledge through qualitative methods training and contributed to the development of the upcoming Roots & Research website. These activities supported the board’s continued growth as an active partner in community-engaged research and dissemination efforts.

Community Engagement Coalition Kickoff Meeting

On April 10, 2026, LiveWell Greenville held the Community Engagement Coalition Kickoff, an initiative built upon longstanding relationships and trust cultivated throughout Greenville County. The coalition was established to bring together advocates, community leaders, and residents committed to advancing community-driven change and strengthening connections across the county.

The kickoff meeting attracted strong participation and featured a welcoming environment that reflected the diversity and commitment of the Greenville community. The event marked an important milestone in the continued growth of the coalition and its efforts to foster collaboration, civic engagement, and collective action throughout the region.

The coalition also launched its inaugural newsletter to support ongoing communication and engagement among community members and partners. You can view the first newsletter here.

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.

foodshare event: Photo of Hannah McKinnon and Abagai

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.

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