Student’s reporting increased people’s access to family support service

As a result of a solutions journalism story about a program that teaches new parents and family members to handle issues such as domestic violence, neglect and drug use, the program received support from community leaders and saw an increase in attendance by people who had read the piece. The Rev. Kennedy Jacobs, who leads the African American Family Institute and runs sessions in three local churches, praised the benefits of the article, titled “Parent Cafe program gives residents guidance, chance to connect.” The piece was written by Jasmine Hall, a student in mass communications at Bethune-Cookman University, which participated in the Solutions Journalism HBCU Educator/Black Press Academy program, coordinated by SJN.