SIUE Successful Communities Collaborative Continues to Grow its Impact
From being a crucial sustainability resource to sponsoring and supporting sustainable partnership projects, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Successful Communities Collaborative (SSCC) is a leading force in the region.
Connie Frey Spurlock, PhD, SSCC director and associate professor in the Department of Sociology, was one of several panelists in a webinar on Wednesday, May 27, entitled “Community Resilience through Local Investment and Funding Strategies.”
“By focusing on community-initiated projects, SSCC can support the kind of local investments that our keynote speaker addressed. Our partnership with The Tiny Children’s Garden is a great example of that,” said Frey Spurlock. She shared SSCC’s mission, accomplishments and current project with webinar attendees.
The keynote speaker was economist, attorney, author and entrepreneur Michael Shuman, a leading visionary on community economics. “Local investing is a key for community prosperity, economic justice, environmental protection and climate action,” said Shuman.
This idea was emphasized by SSCC partner and webinar panelist Derissa Davis. An educator at James Avant elementary school in Washington Park, Davis is also co-founder of The Tiny Children’s Garden, a community garden in Washington Park, one of SSCC’s Small Partnership projects.
Davis’ inspiration for the garden was the community itself. “The garden is a great benefit, not only to the students, but also the parents and other community members of Washington Park,” she noted “We want the garden to support healthy eating and living, and foster community togetherness.”
“Like our primary partnerships, Small Partnership projects link faculty and students across disciplines to community-initiated projects,” said Frey Spurlock.
Davis has several other programs in the works for the Village of Washington Park, including a summer reading program at the Good Samaritan Ministries of the Metro East and a STEM center for kids.
SIUE Successful Communities Collaborative (SSCC) is a cross-disciplinary program that supports one-year partnerships between the University and communities in Illinois to advance local resilience and sustainability based on community-identified environmental, social and economic issues and needs. Our mission is to connect Illinois communities with the dynamic resources of SIUE students and faculty.
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Connie Frey Spurlock, PhD, SIUE Successful Communities Collaborative director and associate professor in the Department of Sociology.
