Our Work: Throughout its existence, the CCE has been involved in a wide variety of projects designed to help serve the Long Island community and beyond. With the assistance of our partnering organizations, the CCE has spearheaded initiatives to serve Long Island’s youth, its communities of color, its Native American population, and its citizens with disabilities. Some of these projects include:
Adaptive Technology Development
Working with Stony Brook University faculty from the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences, the CCE has partnered with an array of community organizations that work with people with disabilities. Through these partnerships, we have sought to better understand the technology needs of this community, and then have worked to address them.
HCARE Summer Institute
Beginning in July 2021, the School of Health Professions provided an online summer enrichment program for high school students interested in the health professions. This program, called the Health Careers Academic Readiness and Excellence (HCARE) Summer Institute, provides 60+ high school student-participants with 7 days of on-line college readiness, and awareness of health professions through clinical faculty presentations; college student mentoring; and more - including resume building, mock interviewing, and success for life skills. We are most proud of these students--participants representing four Suffolk County school districts, who each receive a certificate of participation to add to their high school resume.
Community Health Fair
At the CCE, we have dedicated ourselves to addressing some of the social disparities experienced by Long Island residents. In 2022, the CCE conducted its first Community Health Fair at the Amagansett Presbyterian Church, bringing together healthcare professionals of all kinds through the SBU School of Health Professions, to provide healthcare awareness and services to community members. We plan to conduct these across Long Island communities, to provide services to those most marginalized from the healthcare apparatus.
Digital Inclusion for Long Island Communities:
An increasing basis, aspects of our daily lives are migrating to the digital space. Particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, when schools, workplaces, and even the healthcare system migrated to an online space, it became clear that access to the Internet is much more than a privilege, it is a human right. The CCE has been working to assess levels of digital inclusion across Long Island, to determine where gaps exist and what the outcome of this might be. Go to the Long Island Digital Inclusion Coalition (LIDIC)
Mental Health Needs Assessment:
During the Covid-19 pandemic mental health needs of community members, particularly young people, became evident. However, not enough attention has been given to assist mental health needs and resources within communities. Working with the community-based organization, OLA of Eastern Long Island, we analyzed mental health data from a community-mental-health needs assessment to better understand the resources available and will him and him and services it provides.
