DukeEngage - Durham Projects

Elaine Madison, Director of the Community Service Center, and Sam Miglarese, Director of the Office of Community Affairs, will advise nearly 30 Duke undergraduates who will work on projects in Durham this summer. The assignments are sponsored by several local non-profits and will be coordinated by Winter Brown, a Political Science Duke graduate student who has a service and service learning background.

Growing up with Sickle Cell Disease: Time to Take Charge
This is a comprehensive pediatric-to-adult transition program for adolescents with sickle cell disease. Students will help the program with assessing the effectiveness of increasing patients’ knowledge about the disease, decreasing their concerns and negative feelings about moving to the adult clinic, and increasing attendance at regularly scheduled appointments.

Durham Community Consulting
After having established nearly three years as a non-profit, Durham Community Consulting will have five DukeEngage student-volunteers working with them this summer. Students will work alongside community partners, Duke faculty and staff, and other Duke students towards the non-profits' long-term goals. Their assignments vary, and include helping increase the impact and outcomes of local non-profit organizations and helping direct students towards careers in community organizations.

Durham Family Initiative
Durham Family Initiative partners Duke students with children who live at McDougald Terrace and attend Burton Elementary School. This program is designed to increase support for at-risk children and educate a broader audience about abuse and neglect. These mentoring relationships will not only expand the children’s sense of community and range of experience, but they will also encourage character development.

Eno River Project
Students will meet the specified needs of the Eno River State Park through several activities. Some of the things they will do includes modeling and predicting the most successful eradication strategies for invasive plants, habitat mapping, monitoring water quality, and banding birds.

Student U.
One of Student U.'s missions is to encourage middle school students in Durham to take charge of their educations. DukeEngage volunteers will follow this by teaching middle school students classes over this summer. Throughout the academic year, Duke students will maintain their relationships by serving as mentors.

Duke-Durham Neighborhood Partnership
Duke students will be supporting local neighborhoods by working with Duke-Durham Neighborhood partners. Some things they will do include working with at-risk teenagers and children at summer camps, developing the leadership of promising high school students, and encouraging more students and community members in 'quality of life' issues.