Graham Revitalization Economic Action Team

• Dolly Parton Imagination Library – There are 209 Graham County children currently enrolled in the program.

• Health Occupations Students of American Competition – RHS has its first HOSA State First Place Winner. Karlyn Matheson, a junior at RHS, placed first in job seeking skills and is eligible to compete in the National HOSA Competition in Orlando, Florida in June. Four other competitors placed in the top ten in their events.

• Eagle Scouts – Graham County Schools is very proud of the following young men who recently became Eagle Scouts: Isaac Wiggins, Alex Knight, Lathan Buchanan, Cody Cline, Ethan Beavers, Dalson Jordan, Caleb Turpin, and Luke Walters.

• Robbinsville Middle School – RMS students are currently researching the history of Graham County and are culminating their information to propose suggestions on how Graham County can move forward with further revitalization.

• Millcreek House – Several people have toured the Mill Creek Carpentry house but no bids have been submitted at this time. If you are interested or know someone who is interested in touring the home, contact Susie Beasley at the Graham County Schools Central Office.

• Star Lab – Graham County Library hosted the Star Lab during the month of February which was a huge success and every school got to take part in the Star Lab experience.

• Strategic Tourism Plan Implementation–Phase II – Work continues on the implementation of the $100,000 award from the Appalachian Regional Commission. The project consists of four components – wayfinding signage, Downtown Wi-Fi, Buy Local Campaign and online mapping and marketing.

• Wayfinding Signage – discussions continue with NCDOT on signage requirements

• Downtown Wi-Fi – the Request for Proposals (RFP) was developed and advertised with one proposal being received.

• Online Mapping and Marketing – the Request for Proposals (RFP) has been developed and advertised with a submission date of April 19, 2019.

• Buy Local Campaign – the kick-off meeting for the Campaign was held on February 21^{st at Stecoah Valley Center. Information and materials were provided to participants to use to encourage residents and visitors to spend locally. A partnership with the Graham Star to do an article on a local business and a Buy Local advertisement will be done bi-monthly.}

• Graham County Broadband Project – Work will soon begin on the implementation of the $100,000 award from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) for increased internet service to underserved/unserved areas in our county

• New Wireless Internet Service - a new wireless internet service is available for Stecoah area residents. SkyWave Wireless Internet located in Bryson City provides internet service for residents with a line of sight to one of the towers or another SkyWave Access Point. For additional information, contact SkyWave at www.wncskywae.com or (828) 788 – 2929.

• Graham County Substance Use Coalition – the Coalition is organized with bi-monthly meetings. Targeting transitional housing, domestic violence, and youth prevention activities.

• Medicaid Transformation – The transformation process is underway. AmeriHealth, BlueCross BlueShield, Well Care, and United will be the new Medicaid providers for our area.

• 2018 Community Health Assessment – the assessment is complete and available on the Graham County Health Department website at health.grahamcounty.org. It is full of the most up to date data and analysis. It contains the health priorities for the next 3 years which are mental health, substance use, and heart disease.

• Substance Abuse Planning Grant – The HRSA RCORP planning grant is halfway completed. Work continues on data collection and analysis to determine what programs and target areas would be most effective. The subsequent implementation grant RFP has been released. Those organizations involved in the planning grant plan to reapply for the implementation funds.

• Employee Worksite Wellness Program – This is a county employee wellness program launched in October 2018 and is halfway through the pilot year. The program offers healthy challenges to employees to improve their health. Challenges can be nutrition, physical activity or inner wellness based. The program has been a successful venture with incentives and participant activities.

• Community Health Grant – An application has been made for funds to expand primary care.

Note: Above activities were submitted by the Graham County Health Department

The NRRWQ committee met on March 5 and decided upon several activities for the next few months. Volunteers are encouraged to participate in these activities.

• RHS Sweetwater Creek Project-Phase III – GREAT volunteers worked with Mainspring and students from the RHS Earth Science and Biology classes to remove invasive plants and on restoration activities along the greenway. This project is a result of a $16,500 grant from Cherokee Preservation Foundation.

• Clean-up day on the Civilian Conservation Corp Trail – a general clean-up (debris removal, leave removal) of the trail take place on Thursday, March 21 at 2 pm. Participants are asked to bring chain saws (if properly certified), loppers, hand saws, weed trimmers/brush cutters, hoes or rakes. We will be maintaining the 1/4 mile accessible hiking trail and the unpaved trail departing from the observation deck. It is anticipated that 2 to 3 hours will be needed to complete this project. Note that this is scheduled to take place immediately following the monthly GREAT meeting taking place at the Snowbird Youth Center.

• Work day on the Santeetlah bike trail section – Monday, April 22, 2019 beginning at 10 am on Long Hungry Rd. Part of the trail has been blocked by fallen trees. Chain saw and limb removal tools needed. There is much trash that needs to be picked up and hauled out. Bags and grabbers will be supplied. Five to six volunteers should guarantee that the work is done in time to break for lunch

• Kids in the Park – is looking into the idea of expanding their presence in Graham County. The organization is interested in finding a few additional locations to locate one of other hiking trails or STEM trails could be installed. Kids in Parks is a signature program of the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation. GREAT will work closely with Travel and Tourism, Graham County Schools and other county agencies to secure funding for the program.

• The Wild Turkey Federation – Tuesday, April 16, 2019 beginning at 10 am on Yellow Creek Road. The Federation has requested assistance with removal of trash which has been dumped along Yellow Creek and Old Field Gap Roads. Three to five volunteers will be needed.

• Clean-Up at Joyce Kilmer Loop – in collaboration with the US Forest Service and Partners of Joyce Kilmer on Friday, April 2016 beginning at 9 am. This is an all-hands on deck effort to spruce up the memorial loop drive and parking lot getting ready for the tourist season. The more people we get the better our park will look for wildflower tourist season. Forestry workers will be there with heavy equipment. Volunteers are encouraged to bring saws, leaf blowers, loppers and string trimmers.

• Litter Pick-Up on the Cherohala – a tentative date of Wednesday, May 1 has been set for this activity. The county NCDOT office has confirmed that The Cherohala Skyway portion of NC143 has not been contracted for litter removal. This needs to be done as soon as possible. We will coordinate a few days this spring to mobilize and get this done up to the TN State line. If anyone is planning a trip on this road, please take a bag along. Jim Baker has several hundred DOT orange bags. Contact him if you can do this before your trip.