Cover Story

The Coharie Collaboration

It is a match made in Harnett County. One of the eight American Indian Tribes in North Carolina, the Coharie Tribe is based in Harnett and Sampson Counties. The area is rural, medically underserved, and about 30 miles from Campbell’s main campus.

The tribe, like many underserved communities, was looking for ways to reach their members with information about COVID-19 and to provide vaccinations. “And to do that, we needed funding,” said Gregory Jacobs, Coharie tribal administrator. “It was perfect timing when Dr. Ronny Bell reached out about the NC Healthier Together grant.”

“Dr. Bell is chair of the North Carolina American Indian Health Board and works with the state health department and its agencies,” said Dr. David Tillman, chair and director of the CPHS Public Health program. “Dr. Bell came across the NC Healthier Together grant and contacted Mr. Jacobs, Dr. Amy Hinkelman who works at CUSOM, and me. It was the start of the collaboration between the Coharie Tribe and Campbell.”

Dr. Tillman and Dr. Hinkelman, assistant academic officer of the Master of Science in Biomedical Sciences program and assistant professor of Microbiology and Immunology at the Campbell University School of Osteopathic Medicine (CUSOM) worked with Isabell Freeman, chair of the Coharie Intra-Tribal Council and of the Harnett County Indian Association, to complete the grant, and Ms. Freeman finalized and submitted it. “It was a happy day when we received the grant funds,” Freeman said. “We really want to help our tribe members be healthy.”

There are three main components of the grant: Outreach, Education, and Vaccination. The grant funds will pay for the materials, supplies, and small stipends for people who will conduct door-to-door canvassing of the tribe members.

1. Outreach efforts include mailing flyers and COVID-19 information to members and using the Coharie’s automated call system to contact tribe members. “Knocking on doors is also part of our plan,” said Freeman. “We want to do everything possible to reach our members and get the information in their hands.”

2. “Step two is hosting tribe community meetings in our tribal facilities, one in Harnett County and one in Sampson County,” said Freeman. “We’ll have a time of fellowship and candid conversation with a panel of Coharie tribal leaders along with health experts from Campbell, Dr. Hinkelman and Dr. Tillman, and health experts from the American Indian community, Dr. Ronny Bell and Dr. Linwood Watson, a family physician who is a member of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe. We hope by these efforts to provide factual information about COVID-19 and allow members to gather in a familiar environment where our community will feel comfortable and be willing to ask questions.”

3. The final step is to have two vaccination clinics set up at tribe facilities using Campbell’s new mobile clinics, which were funded by the Cares Act, with the goal to vaccinate all unvaccinated members. “We believe about half of our adult members have not yet been vaccinated and through these opportunities we hope they will be educated and vaccinated,” Freeman concluded.

Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) students and Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine students will be at the forefront of these efforts. “With the Campbell mission to serve in rural and underserved communities, working with the Coharie is a great fit for our students,” said Dr. Tillman. “The MSPH students researched COVID-19, the available vaccines, and the Coharie to develop culturally-relevant materials for the tribe and are integral parts of the planning and execution of each phase of the grant project. Students will receive academic credit from this collaboration, but most importantly, they will learn from the experience and be able to apply the skills and knowledge to other course work and to their career.”

Rising second-year medical student volunteers have also contributed to these efforts by helping with both the education and vaccination events. The hope is that these community relationships between Campbell and the Coharie Tribe will continue long after the pandemic, and we look forward to working together to improve the health of our local, tribal communities.

As news of this collaboration spread, Dr. Alfred Bryant, dean of the Campbell School of Education and a member of the Lumbee Tribe, offered help and support. Prior to joining Campbell, Dr. Bryant was dean of the School of Education and director of the Southeastern American Indian Studies program at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP). Through his work at UNCP, he established relationships with all the American Indian Tribes in North Carolina. Dr. Bryant used his connections to put our students in touch with all the pastors of the Coharie Tribe churches, which was another great avenue of spreading information.

“Once I heard how the Public Health program and CUSOM were working with the Coharie, it made me think of even more ways Campbell could collaborate with tribes in North Carolina,” said Dr. Bryant. “I was able to connect Campbell leadership with Gregory Richardson, executive director of the NC Commission of Indian Affairs, to discuss finding additional opportunities to help the tribes and provide students from many Campbell programs with hands on experiences using the NC Healthier Together grant and Coharie collaboration as a model.”

Dr. Bell, a member of the Lumbee Tribe, said, “I appreciate Mr. Jacob’s passion for addressing the health issues within his tribe. This grant is a wonderful opportunity to have the resources to provide education and give vaccinations to the Coharie community. It’s also not just a one direction opportunity, but a way to educate non-tribe members about the area and tribe history and culture.”

“This means a lot to us,” said Mr. Jacobs. “Our health disparity numbers sometimes show that we are not up to par on healthcare. We have 3,229 members who take care of each other as a community, and having this opportunity to receive expert information and support in our own facilities makes us feel like an important part of society. Historically, we have been invisible due to our small numbers. This is a great opportunity to be visible. It feels really good and gives us a sense of belonging.” 

NC Healthier Together Grant Components:

1. Outreach

2. Education

3. Vaccination

Left to right: Dr. Amy Hinkelman, Dr. Ronny Bell, Dr. Alfred Bryant, Mr. Gregory Jacobs, Ms. Isabell Freeman, Mr. Gordon Jacobs (Coharie Tribe Chief), and Dr. David Tillman