Economic & Community Impact Analysis

5.1 - Community-Focused Research and Advocacy

The Humboldt region faces the same issues that many rural communities across the country face: lack of internet access, health care, and social services. The HSU California Center for Rural Policy (CCRP) is dedicated to improving the lives of rural Californians. Staffed by many HSU alumni and student researchers, CCRP is another example of the fact that HSU alumni remain in and contribute to the community after graduation. Today CCRP operates as a community-driven research center, promoting evidence-based policy and planning research of rural communities. The center works on identifying areas of inequality to inform policy aimed at reducing disparities. Specifically, the CCRP tracks areas like health and wellness indicators, internet access, food security, access to healthcare, economic opportunities, and education in the area.102 CCRP demonstrates HSU’s responsiveness to the needs/priorities of the region and explicitly providing services to meet those needs, and by doing so providing thought leadership on key local issues.

Rural Broadband

One successful initiative that CCRP took part in was to improve local broadband access. Roughly 25 million Americans, 19 million living in rural communities, do not have access to reliable broadband connection.103 HSU’s CCRP has been working with the local rural community to try to address this issue in the region. In 2011 and 2014 CCRP successfully expanded and strengthened the broadband networks in two rural communities. Due to lack of reliable internet connectivity in Humboldt and Del Norte Counties, natural disasters and accidents often cut internet service to these communities entirely. The solution was to create multiple routes for cabling to travel, known as route diversity. Both counties achieved were able to achieve route diversity, Humboldt in December of 2011, and Del Norte in January 2014.104

Community Health and Wellness

In 2010, CCRP completed its ambitious project to develop and determine a common set of community health indicators in the region. Working in collaboration with numerous other community groups, such as local hospitals and tribes, CCRP identified 48 community health indicators with solid data, and 44 other useful indicators that lacked data. This report identified areas that were in need of improvement, such as a shortage of specialty physicians, low childhood immunization rates, and decreasing high school graduation rates.105 These findings will allow prioritization of community health issues so that they can be addressed. For example, the findings of this 2010 report were utilized in 2012 as part of Del Norte County and adjacent tribal lands participation in the Building Healthy Communities (BHC) initiative. Twenty core community health indicators were selected to show that in Del Norte County and adjacent tribal lands transportation is a common problem affecting a high percentage of adults living in poverty or low-income, the percentage of woman with late or no prenatal care increased from 2003 to 2009, and nearly half of students are overweight or obese.106 This knowledge allowed funding from the BHC grant to be targeted to best address community need.

CCRP also participates in an ongoing effort to identify hunger problems in the region. The Humboldt Food Access and Pantry survey, completed in 2005, 2011, and 2017, aims to assess the food security status of clients and any additional needs. Funding for the project was provided by the Community Benefits Department of St. Joseph Health – Humboldt County, while CCRP performed survey analysis and summarized results. The survey was designed and performed collaboratively by Food for People, CCRP, and St. Joseph’s Health. 107 To ensure that efforts to improve access to healthy food is not just limited to these surveys, the CCRP also funds the Humboldt Food Policy Council (HFCP). HFCP is a diverse network of food system stakeholders who are focused on ensuring the regional food system is equitable, culturally appropriate, and environmentally and economically sustainable. The group meets bi-monthly to discuss and find solutions to the regions food insecurity issues.108

In 2011, due to budget limitations, HSU made the difficult decision to discontinue its Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program. Health-care providers in the region have made very clear the importance of having a 4-year BSN program in the area to maintain health care access in the region. To meet community need HSU in 2017 began exploring a partnership between HSU and the nearby College of the Redwoods to create a Registered Nurse to Bachelors of Science in Nursing (RN-to-BSN) program, known as the North Coast Nursing Program.109 In March of 2019 it was announced that the non-profit healthcare organization, St. Josephs Health, Humboldt County, will be supporting the RN-to-BSN program at HSU with a two-million-dollar grant. The program is set to start enrolling students by Fall 2020, and set a curriculum centered around the needs of the region. The creation of the North Coast Nursing Program is a step towards ensuring a more resilient health care system for the North Coast region.110