The Better Together Community Driven Awareness Community-Engaged Research Day is an opportunity for Community-Based Organization (CBO) leaders to make connections with Penn State faculty from University Park, Harrisburg, and Hershey. The Community-Engaged Research Core (CERC) will be providing an opportunity to apply for small seed grants (up to $5K) to foster sustainable partnerships between faculty and CBOs after our event. Their Steering Committee (comprised of PSU staff and CBOs) is excited to offer this mutually beneficial opportunity and has decided to target mental health and nutrition as themes for this event.

The event will take place June 6, 2019, 9:00 a.m. - Noon at the Dixon Center, Harrisburg, PA

Register here by May 3rd

For more information, contact: engage@pennstatehealth.psu.edu

Robin Perry-Smith discusses why she joined the Health Care Education Association and one of her greatest career achievements. Click here to view the interview.

Recently, Carmen Henry-Harris, Community Liaison and Coordinator for PACT, sat down with Comcast Newsmaker’s Jill Horner to discuss how PACT successfully functions with the community to ensure diverse populations are represented in research.  Click here to view the interview.

PACT attended the Dauphin County 4^th Annual Recovery Day on September 29, 2018. The event took place between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. at the Harrisburg Mall front entrance (Paxton Street). Representatives from each of the PACT projects were in attendance, as well as PACT administrators, in order to share with and inform community members about the community-engaged research taking place through PACT to improve the lives of families in the Harrisburg area.

PACT attended the Arc Family Fun Day on July 14, 2018, from 12:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Camp Curtin Academy, 2900 N. 6^th Street, Harrisburg, PA. The event was free and included pie walks, Bingo, music, food, face painting, pony rides, prizes and lots of fun. The Arc of Dauphin County strives “to enhance quality of life and community integration for individuals with special needs.”

Tri County Community Action and the Derry Street United Methodist Church hosted this year’s Annual Community Block Party on June 30^th, 2018. The event was held from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. outdoors at 1514 Derry Street, Harrisburg, PA. The party had a DJ, performances for children, children’s activities, and educational information for families. Tri County Community Action is a private, nonprofit, community development agency that creates and connects resources for individuals, families and communities to move from poverty and crisis to self-sufficiency. The annual event provides a good opportunity to highlight PACT.

On June 23, 2018, PACT participated in the New Beginnings Youth & Adult Services first annual Restoring Unity in the Community event. Scheduled from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Sunshine Park/Clarence C. Morrison Park, 901 N. 12^th St., Harrisburg, PA, the event was free for the entire family. There were activities, games, prizes, free food and drinks, as well as an expo of businesses and adult services organizations. Noah Spence from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers hosted youth football skills and drills. New Beginnings Youth and Adult Services Inc. provides prevention and intervention services, resources, and support to children, youth, and adults so they can remain safely in their homes, schools, and communities.

Representatives from PACT were in attendance at the 61^st PSFCA Big 33 Football Classic Event held on June 16, 2018, at Landis Field in Harrisburg, PA. Considered the Superbowl of high school football, the event includes all-star players from Pennsylvania and Maryland. This year’s event included a special Fan Experience & Awareness Fest during the pre-game activities, “a family-friendly, hands-on, interactive festival with special emphasis on Human Services for families, featuring educational and prevention services.”

Dawn Witherspoon, Associate Professor of Psychology and Associate Director of PACT, was named a McCourtney Early Career Professor of Psychology. This award honors a promising untenured or recently tenured faculty member in the College of Liberal Arts and includes support for the faculty member’s research and teaching program.

Dr. Witherspoon directed the PACT project Families, Adolescents, and Neighborhoods in Context and co-directed Places/Lugares and P-Plan. She is currently co-directing BRAVE and Talk, Touch, and Listen.

Koraly Pérez-Edgar, Professor of Psychology and PACT researcher, was named McCourtney Professor of Child Studies in recognition of exceptional scholarship and service.

Dr. Pérez-Edgar co-directs the AnT and LAnT projects with Dr. Buss.

Penn State’s Philanthropists of the Year in 2013, Tracy (’65 English) and Ted McCourtney, generously provided the funding for these professorships. The McCourtneys have been leading benefactors to the College of the Liberal Arts for many years.

Click here to read the Penn State News article.

Penn State professor Dr. Douglas M. Teti received a five-year, $3 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to further his Study of Infants’ Emergent Sleep TrAjectories (SIESTA) research program. This grant will allow Dr. Teti to test the effects of an intervention program designed to help parents work together more effectively as they make the transition to new parenthood, which in turn should benefit their infants' development.  This project expands his work to the Harrisburg area. Through PACT, Dr. Teti has established a Harrisburg research office. The SIESTA research program is a multi-funded, longitudinal study examining infant sleep and parenting practices. To read more about this award, click here.