​Self Care: An Act of Power Series: CERP is co-hosting a wellness workshop series that will take place in community-based locations around Philadelphia from Oct. 2022 through April 2023. Partners and co-hosts for this series are the Mayor’s Commission for African American Males, Philadelphia Housing Authority, the Church of the Advocate and other local partners.

The next event in the series will take place on Saturday, April 22, 2023, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Vaux Community Center (2300 Master Street, entrance on 24th Street). Registration is required.

Centering Communities in Service-Learning (April 4, 2023, 1 to 2 p.m.): In this presentation, Jabari Bodrick, director of education and resiliency at United Way of the Midlands, will share a step-by-step community-centered approach to creating healthy and sustainable service-learning collaborations. Registration is required.

In fall 2022, CERP is commencing a special interest group at the College of Public Health that will meet monthly to discuss best practices, challenges and practical approaches for building and sustaining academic-community partnerships. While the group is primarily focused on CPH faculty, anyone is welcome. The goal is to facilitate semi-structured discussions as a learning forum for everyone. Please email CERP@temple.edu with any questions or to participate in this group.

Community Driven Research Day (CDRD) is a citywide initiative to foster academic-community partnerships and promote community-driven research. A large networking event is held each year for community organizations and academic researchers to meet each other and initiate partnerships. This event is an interactive poster session for community groups and community-based organizations to showcase their research questions and meet potential partners and spark new collaborations. A competitive pilot funding process to support these budding partnerships follows the event. The College of Public Health has co-sponsored and co-hosted CDRD since its inception in 2011. Watch a short video about the 2018 event.

Sample of past CDRD pilot funding awards

• 2021–22: Julia Kobulsky partnering with the Philadelphia Children’s Alliance on a project titled “A Pilot to Inform Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse Recurrence”
• 2019–20: Melissa Dichter partnering with Lutheran Settlement House on a project titled “Advancing Intimate Partner Violence Survivors’ Capacity to Advocate for Prevention through Storytelling”
• 2016–17: Deirdre Dingman and Michael Sachs partnering with Healthy Kids Running Series on a project titled “Evaluation of a Community Running Program in North Philadelphia”
• 2014–15: Shirley Moy partnering with Workforce Education Lifelong Learning (WELL) on a project titled “Health Literacy in an Adult Literacy Population”

Research Readiness Day (RRD) is a complement event to Community Driven Research Day. RRD is a technical assistance event for CBOs and community groups interested in learning more about effective community/academic research partnerships to prepare them for developing community-academic partnerships. Registration is required.

Self Care: An Act of Power Series (Oct. 1, 2022; Dec. 3, 2022): Presented at North Philadelphia community sites in collaboration with the Mayor's Commission on African American Males

Medical Legal Partnerships (May 21, 2022): Presented at Community Center at Visitation by Associate Professor Omar Martinez

Trauma-informed Care (Nov. 10, 2021): Presented at Congreso de Latinos Unidos by Associate Professor Amy Lynch

COVID-19 in Latinx Communities and Social Determinants of Health (Dec. 9, 2020): Presented at Congreso de Latinos Unidos by Associate Professor Omar Martinez and Assistant Professor Carolina Villamil Grest

Obesity: Philadelphia's Public Health Challenge (April 22, 2019): Presented at Esperanza Health Center by David Sarwer, associate dean for research and director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education

Utilizing Community Engagement to Make (Colorectal) Cancer a Word, not a Sentence (October 2022): Colorectal cancer is a preventable and treatable disease that no one has to die from. With over a decade of experience, Dr. Charles R. Rogers shares how he utilized novel approaches, team science, and community-based participatory research to reduce colorectal cancer disparities among African American men and other socially vulnerable populations. Dr. Rogers, associate professor of epidemiology and social sciences at the Medical College of Wisconsin, is a behavioral scientist and master certified health education specialist.​

Cultural Humility: An Essential but Often Overlooked Component of Community Engaged Research (Feb. 11, 2022): Community-engaged research encompasses a wide array of approaches that facilitate community involvement in various stages of the research process.  Researchers are advised to develop strategies and processes that engage and connect community stakeholders and groups to research project including rationale, design, data-gathering protocols and evaluation measures. Often missing, however, is attention on the work that researchers need to do to become aware of their own position vis-à-vis the community. Associate Professor Cheryl Hyde, PhD, MSW, presented on the concept of cultural humility, defined as a lifelong process of critical self-reflection and discovery, and how such an approach is essential to building authentic relationships that serve as the foundation for genuine community-engaged research.

Community Development(al) Trauma: What Trauma Theory Can Teach Us About Engagement, Capacity and Resiliency (Nov. 17, 2021): Dr. Whitney Cabey is an associate professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine and the Center for Urban Bioethics at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine. Cabey's work focuses on bringing social justice and care for the under-served into research and business frameworks. Her interests include how transportation access influences healthcare access and health outcomes.

Centering Community in Policy and Advocacy (March 26, 2021): The presentation and subsequent conversation discussed the importance of community engagement and centering community in policy and advocacy. In his talk, Dr. Xavier Morales, executive director at The Praxis Project, focused on how to center community in efforts to improve equity. Lessons drew on the many experiences of the Praxis Project supporting communities and initiatives across the country. Morales also discussed measuring the impact of building community power.

A Brave Space: Reimagining Community Campus Relationships (Nov. 5, 2020): Based on their personal experiences, Dr. Philip McCallion, director of the School of Social Work, and Dr. Lisa Ferretti, research assistant professor, discussed ways that campuses can find connection with their local communities.

Engaging in Community Based Participatory Research: What, Why and How (Nov. 22, 2019): CBPR expert Barbara Israel, DrPH, MPH, presented with her Detroit-based partner, Zachary Rowe, BBA. Israel is a professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Health Education at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and the director and founding member of the Detroit Community-Academic Urban Research Center (Detroit URC), a community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership now in its 24th year. Rowe is the executive director of Friends of Parkside, a grassroots community-based organization on Detroit’s East side which provides programs for youth, a computer learning center, health and safety projects, and linkages for residents to employment and personal development opportunities.

Finding and Using Data in Grant Proposals (May 20, 2022): This training was for community-based organizations, nonprofits, and anyone interested in learning about the best uses of data in grant proposals. Speaker Will Dean, Temple University research and data services librarian, spoke about how to access publicly available data from national and local Philadelphia sources such as the U.S. Census, Pew Charitable Trusts, OpenData Philly and the Community Health Explorer. He also discussed how to find the most relevant, suitable data for your grant application, where and how to use data in your grant proposals, and other applications for funding.

Cracking the PCORI Nut (Feb. 12, 2021): Wondering how to crack the "PCORI nut"? This discussion featured Dr. Denese Neu, engagement officer for public and patient engagement at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). Dr. Neu shared PCORI funding priorities, opportunities and mechanisms, with a focus on the Eugene Washington Engagement Awards. She explained PCORI's views on engagement and how to write a strong engagement plan.

Structural Inequalities Workshop (Dec. 10, 2019): Expand your understanding of the structural and historical factors that contribute to racism and inequity in America and learn how those factors affect your local Philadelphia community. Attendees met and engaged with local leaders of community groups and community-based organizations as well as faculty and leaders from major academic institutions across Philadelphia. This event was held at the Church of the Advocate (1801 W. Diamond Street, Philadelphia, PA 19121) and featured speaker Al Richmond, MSW, executive director of Community Campus Partnerships for Health.

National Public Health Week panel discussion: Public Health Advocacy for North Philadelphia (April 5, 2021): This event focused on using public health advocacy to support community priorities. First, Dr. Laurie Friedman described public health advocacy and highlighted the impact of advocacy efforts from her experience. Then, a panel of residents from North Philadelphia—Grace Marable, Luz Crespo, and Marlita Milliner (also participants in CERP’s Public Health Advisory Council)— discussed the most pressing public health issues they see facing their neighborhoods. Finally, Dr. Friedman discussed the specific advocacy actions that everyone can take to support and improve the health and well-being of our North Philadelphia communities. This event was moderated by CERP Director Heather Gardiner.

Poster presentation at APHA Annual meeting: Institutional support for academic community engagement—A case study (Oct. 26, 2021): Community engagement is foundational to public health. The benefits of meaningful community-academic partnerships are well documented, however, challenges to creating authentic and mutually beneficial partnerships abound. Temple College of Public Health created the Office of Community Engaged Research and Practice (CERP) in 2018 and we have become a model of the necessary institutional support for community engagement. Metrics for community engagement, suggested activities, and strategies for monitoring outcomes were included. CERP Director Heather Gardiner was the featured speaker.

ORA Dean’s Seminar Series (Sept. 25, 2020 and Sept. 17, 2021): Each September, CERP provides an update to the College of Public Health community on community engaged research and practice. These sessions include an overview of the office, a description of the services provided to the college and community partners, a recap of the previous year and plans for the upcoming academic year. In addition, a focus on a relevant topic is presented.