Graham Revitalization Economic Action Team
Committee Reports - November 15, 2018
Education and Workforce Development Committee
Dolly Parton Imagination Library – There are 206 Graham County children currently enrolled in the program
Millcreek House – RHS Carpentry class has finished house #3 located on Pate Cooper Road off of Mill Creek Circle. The house will be put on the market soon.
Bowl for Kids Sake – GREAT sponsored a bowling team for the Bowl for Kids Sake fundraiser held at Cherokee Lanes on November 10th. A total of $3,000.00 was raised for the Graham County Big Brother Big Sister program.
Tourism and Mountain Culture Committee
Strategic Tourism Plan Implementation–Phase II – Work continues on the implementation of the $100,000 award from the Appalachian Regional Commission. The project will provide high quality and quantity of signage directing residents and tourists to attractions, points of interest and local businesses to enhance the tourism economy in Graham County and its towns. In addition, the project has a downtown WiFi component, a Buy Local Campaign and an online marketing initiative. This is a collaborative effort with NC Department of Commerce, NC Department of Transportation and Graham County agencies.
GREAT Health and Social Committee Report
Substance Abuse Planning Grant – Work is beginning on a $200,000 HRSA (Health Resources & Services Administration) regional planning grant involving Graham, Clay and Cherokee counties. A consortium is being formed with Appalachian Mountain Community Health Services, MountainWise, Graham County Health Department, Cherokee County Health Department, and Clay County Health Department to begin combating the opioid epidemic in our respective counties.
Graham County Substance Use Coalition - Exploring multi-disciplinary county substance use coalition. This is in the brand new phase of reaching out to community stakeholders.
Employee Worksite Wellness Program - This is a county employee wellness program launched in October 2018. It is a calendar year-long program to offer healthy challenges to employees to improve their health. Challenges can be nutrition, physical activity, or inner wellness based. Wellness panel lab work is done at the beginning and end of the year.
Run for Your Lives – Successful “Run for Your Lives” 5k/fun walk in collaboration with the Graham County Schools. This was the first “challenge” in the county wellness program. It was open to the public. We had 85 participants along with supporting staff to work the event.
Health Topic Speakers – Collaborating with the Graham County Library to host guest speakers on a variety of health related topics. This is in the works for regular future events.. The first speaking event we are trying to organize will be on substance use and support for families.
Note: Above activities were submitted by the Graham County Health Department
Nourishing Food Grant – Completed implementation of a $2,000 grant provided by Marshall University to provide vouchers for vegetables and fruit grown at Robbinsville's Stoney Hollow Farm to needy families. Vouchers were distributed by the County Health Department and the Graham Food Distribution Association.
Revitalization and Infrastructure Committee
Graham County Broadband Project – The Request for Proposals has been released for implementation of the $100,000 award from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for increased internet service to underserved/unserved areas in our county.
Natural Resources, Recreation and Water Quality Committee
RHS Sweetwater Creek Project-Phase III – GREAT volunteers will work on November 20 with Mainspring and students from the RHS Earth Science and Biology classes to remove invasive plants and plant native trees along the greenway. This project is a result of a $16,500 grant from Cherokee Preservation Foundation.
