The Office of Community Health improves health care access by partnering with community groups and agencies.
Partnering in the Community
We’ve collaborated with hundreds of civic leaders, government agencies, and grassroots and faith-based organizations. This is a partial list of our current partner organizations and initiatives:
- Center for Child and Family Health
- Durham’s Partnership for Children
- Durham Technical Community College
- East Durham Children’s Initiative
- El Centro Hispano
- Greater Durham Chamber of Commerce
- Made In Durham
- North Carolina Central University
- Partnership for A Healthy Durham
- YMCA
If you are looking for a way to connect with our community; such as, events, partnerships, etc., please contact our Community Engagement Manager, Kimberly.Monroe@duke.edu or call her at 919-681-4041.
The MaryAnn Black Summer Internship Program
A career in healthcare brings health and healing to the community–it’s a calling.
The MaryAnn Black Summer Internship Program was created to open doors, mentor and inspire youth ages 15 to 18 to become the healthcare leaders of tomorrow. Today’s youth are our future doctors, nurses, technicians, researchers, administrators, support services staff, and other vital healthcare workers.
Founded by MaryAnn Black in 2015, the internships are a collaboration between Duke Health and Durham YouthWorks. Durham YouthWorks is a paid summer internship program designed to provide young adults who are residents of the City of Durham or Durham County with the skills needed to succeed in the workplace.
"The presentation on the future of healthcare and language pathology helped me realize the path I want to take,” said Elizabeth J. “I believe that a mix of pharmacy and language translation is for me. Hearing all the different presenters and careers helped me realize what I truly want to do.”
“This internship definitely confirmed what I wanted to do,” said Biran B. “I want to be involved in the business side of healthcare and psychology.”
The summer of 2022 saw the largest class to date with 36 students representing 12 high school and early college programs from across Durham County. Students had the opportunity to learn about more than 50 healthcare careers that were presented and proctored by over 70 Duke Health professionals. Team members shared their career journeys, details about their occupation, and answered questions. Students virtually shadowed the professionals, and some were able to shadow or tour DUHS’ departments in person.
“I’m thankful for such an amazing experience through the MaryAnn Black Virtual Summer Internship Program,” said Brooklyn W. “This program taught me so much about the medical field and has opened up so many opportunities for me.”
Additionally, students learned about post-secondary education, certifications, scholarships, grants, and other resources. They also met alumni of the internship program who are now embarking on their own healthcare centered journey.
Application information and links for the 2023 program will be available in February.
To learn more about the MaryAnn Black Summer Internship Program contact Darla.wohlfarth@duke.edu
Partner with Duke Health on a COVID-19 Vaccine Event
In an effort to increase vaccine equity and reach historically marginalized populations in our region, Duke Health is partnering with community organizations in Durham, Wake, and surrounding counties. If you are an organization interested in partnering with Duke Health, please fill out the form below. Organizations with capacity to host a COVID-19 vaccine event should include the building name and the address of the location where they would like to host.
Please note that, due to limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccines and resource limitations, we are not able to accept all requests to partner on a vaccine event. However, we will review all requests and follow up with your organization
Health Summits
We sponsor the annual Durham Health Summit, which raises awareness of key health issues in Durham and offers solutions that can lead to a healthier community. Each summit has a different theme, which allows us to focus on timely and important health needs.
Highlights from previous summits can be found in our archives.
Faith Based Initiatives
We have quarterly training sessions for health and wellness initiatives with local faith organizations, including programs for leaders and congregants. It’s a way to promote their role in community wellness and allows the Duke University Health System to be a part of it. These sessions offer information from Duke Pastoral Services, including topics of interest identified by local faith leaders.
For more information about the initiative, contact Kimberly Monroe at 919-681-4041 or kimberly.monroe@duke.edu.
