COMCorps is an AmeriCorps program hosted by Heritage College, housed in their Community Health Programs for over 25 years. The program manages 23 members each year, supporting them as they serve at organizations throughout the county working to create and support social and physical environments that promote good health and wellness. Throughout their service terms, members primarily focus on food insecurity, nutrition education and social connectivity, but the program continues to evolve services to adapt to the demonstrated needs of the community.

COMCorps makes it possible for their diverse service cohort to develop skills and connections while performing meaningful service in the community. In doing so, the program is creating an estimated $7.2-$7.6 million in social value, according to the Social Return on Investment Report.

“It’s changed my life,” Isla Skinner said.

Skinner served as a COMCorps member for two years. Her primary host site was the Athens City County Health Department, where she served as a member of the Health Education division. In this role, Skinner worked on projects with the Creating Healthy Communities Coalition–such as the Strouds Run Beach Access Project which has raised over $30,000 to build accessible beach entrance points at Strouds Run State Park. Additionally, she served at the harm reduction clinic and helped establish Friendship Bench, a free service where community members seeking mental health assistance can meet with other individuals for support and problem solving strategies.

Some of her proudest moments, however, were those in which she served in local elementary schools, teaching children about nutrition through the Live Healthy Kids program.

“Kids are open in a way that I think we close off as we get older, so working with them is so rewarding–especially around food and culture,” Skinner said. “Just getting kids to try beets for the first time and, you know, dance like a vegetable, it's hard not to be proud of that.”

Guiding Skinner throughout her COMCorps experience was site supervisor Ruth Dudding, director of community health and engagement at the Athens City County Health Department. With over two decades of experience working in community health under her belt, Dudding is a persistent advocate for health equity in the county, working with community members and public health partners to address such issues with programming that improves access to nutritious food and quality health care. COMCorps, she says, plays a major role in this effort as well by helping the health department extend its reach.

“A lot of times, maybe in more urban communities, there's more siloed service,” community resources operate in isolation, “but, you know, pathways in our area just are not that way. Health care organizations work together. Social services work together,” Dudding said. “There's never going to be enough mental health services, or enough food resources–there just aren't. But all of these COMCorps members help extend our reach into everything.”

And this ability to build capacity and foster collaboration across various service locations is one of COMCorps’ greatest assets according to the Social Return on Investment report as well–generating a return totaling over $6.2 million. By fostering a network of support through member and alumni connections, community health resources throughout the region are able to turn to one another for assistance, either for labor or information, allowing them to serve the region more efficiently.

For the members COMCorps trains, several other valuable outcomes were noted in the Social Return on Investment Report. These include increased professional skills and job readiness, linkage to future employment opportunities in the community and an increased sense of belonging in the region–encouraging members to stay and continue to contribute to the community.

“I feel like I'm more part of this community than even my hometown,” Skinner said. “I couldn't tell you a thing about the health department in the town I'm from, but the health department in Athens is in so many pockets because of the work that they do to reach every corner of this county. And COMCorps adds to that too.”