HOPE Center Partners with Health Psychology ACE Course

27 November 2023
Photo pictured from left to right Nina Hsu, Henry Stern, Jisoo Yeom, Erica Staab, Edin Xu, Max Garcia Students with the HOPE group not pictured are Eleanor Johnson and Nishant Mistry
Photo pictured from left to right Nina Hsu ’26, Henry Stern ’25, Jisoo Yeom ’24, Erica Staab (HOPE Center Executive Director), Edin Xu ’26, Max Garcia ’26 Students with the HOPE group not pictured are Eleanor Johnson ’26 and Nishant Mistry ’26

For such a small organization, the Faribault-based nonprofit HOPE Center has an outsized impact on both the local community, and on Carleton student learning and engagement. The mission of HOPE Center is to create zero tolerance for sexual and domestic violence through healing, outreach, prevention and education. They offer direct support to victims of violence in Rice County, collaborative support to other organizations that serve victims, and educational support to the entire community. All of their services are free and confidential.

In week ten alone, HOPE Center executive director Erica Staab came to campus to attend final presentations of an ACE Health Psychology class that had a group of students working with her on staff wellness recommendations, zoomed into a feminist philosophy class to talk about the work of the Center, and met with a CCCE Health and Belonging fellow planning content for SEXploration events in April.

At the end of fall term poster session for the Health Psychology course, Erica and a few of the students who worked with her talked about the impact the partnership had on them this fall: 

There was great communication between us and the community partner through three separate visits to the Center in Faribault about how we could use what we learn in the classroom to target issues they cared about.

Edin Xu ‘26

It was impactful to work with HOPE Center because they are a community partner that is a big fixture and doing so much throughout Rice County. It felt like our work was extending beyond the Carleton campus community.

Henry Stern ‘25

It was wonderful to have a chance to work with these students and see the many ways that our work connects with the learning. They validated the need for self care for our staff and they did it with intention.”

Erica Staab, Executive Director HOPE Center

Assistant Professor of Psychology, Gisel Flores-Montoya, has taught this class for a number of years, but during the COVID pandemic, she had to have students engage with theoretical health psychology issues when the college was not able to work directly with partners. This is the first time in three years that she has been able to partner with local and campus community partners for this course. She wrote about this group’s partnership with HOPE center:

Students gained a valuable learning experience by applying Health Psychology methods to identify effective interventions for improving the health of HOPE center staff who are doing amazing work to help communities in need.”

One example of how one connection can build to another is Erica’s presence last year at the SEXploration events. Her talk about the work of HOPE Center inspired several  Carleton students to complete the 40 hours of training required to volunteer with HOPE Center’s Safeline, a 24 hour phone service staffed by trained advocates who take calls outside of HOPE Center’s office hours. 11 Carleton students went through the training this fall, a sharp increase in participation from previous years.

Another example of engagement opportunities that build on each other is a group of students in an upcoming Winter ACE Immunology course taking up where the Health Psychology students left off with staff wellness. Students this winter will look at the health impacts of secondary trauma on staff immune systems and illnesses. 

Carleton’s partnership with HOPE Center is an example of how the CCCE strives to connect with our community partners in multiple and coordinated ways through both curricular and co-curricular opportunities. The past year demonstrates how many points of engagement, when intentionally connected, foster stronger partnerships and deeper levels of engagement over time.