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MILLIGAN COLLEGE, Tenn. (May 14, 2010)― Milligan College seniors Jessi Pansock and Jessi Webster Bryant have big travel plans for their summer vacation ― right here in Appalachia.
Pansock, a native of Piney Flats, Tenn., and Bryant, a resident of Johnson City, Tenn., will spend their break traveling throughout the region, interviewing families whose homes have been rebuilt by Appalachia Service Project (ASP).
ASP is a faith-based service organization that brings thousands of volunteers from around the country to rural Central Appalachia to repair homes for low-income families.
“ASP volunteers have been rehabbing homes in Central Appalachia for 40-plus years,” said Dr. Bert Allen, professor of psychology at Milligan. “In the past, ASP has sent electronic surveys to the volunteers. But the organization has never assessed how this ministry impacts the lives of the homeowners themselves. This summer, these students will interview the families in person to try to find out how this ministry has made a difference.”
Both students will be compensated for their work, thanks to the Appalachian College Association’s (ACA) Lee B. Ledford Student Research Endowment, which supports research experiences for students enrolled in member institutions. The ACA is a non-profit consortium of 36 private two- and four-year liberal arts colleges and universities spread across the Central Appalachian mountains.
Pansock and Bryant, both psychology majors, are recipients of the 2010 Colonel Lee B. Ledford Awards. The award grants them a stipend and an opportunity to present their research at a fall meeting of the ACA. Their project will be supervised by Milligan faculty, Allen and Dr. Joy Drinnon, associate professor of psychology.
Pansock and Bryant’s summer project realizes two goals of the consortium ― it provides them with a research experience that supplements their basic academic courses and it encourages them to reach out in service to their community.
Since its inception in 1969, ASP has served more than 27 communities throughout Central Appalachia, where poverty is more than double the national average. More than 260,000 volunteers from across the nation have repaired 14,000 homes.
“One of the neatest things about this project is that we have two institutions, both in different types of ministry, who will have a symbiotic relationship,” Allen said. “Milligan students will help ASP assess what they are doing, and ASP will help our students hone important research skills.”
For more information about the Appalachia Service Project, visit www.asphome.org. To learn more about Milligan, visit www.milligan.edu.