Since graduating in May 2013, Kate Furgurson has been trying to ameliorate the lives of farmworkers in North Carolina. A double major in Environmental Policy and Hispanic Studies, Kate joined Student Action with Farmworkers (SAF) in order to work on helping farmworkers access health care services. Her proficiency in Spanish (which she uses on a daily basis) and her commitment to social justice, which reverberated throughout her trajectory in our Hispanic Studies program, played a major role in her professional decision. Through SAF’s Sowing Seeds for Change fellowship, Kate received the necessary training to work in rural health clinics in NC, and provide health care education. Kate’s work in this leadership program was showcased in the following video, in which farmworkers from Coahuila, Mexico, share their experiences, concerns, and anxieties with her.
During her undergraduate trajectory Kate worked with Students Helping Honduras and participated in the W&M study abroad program in La Plata, Argentina. She was also a Sharpe Community Scholar. Kate is currently Farmworker Health Outreach Coordinator at the Surry County Health & Nutrition Center in Dobson, NC.
Every year, Student Action with Farmworkers accepts applications for their 10-week summer internship “Into the Fields,” and for their Sowing Seeds for Change Fellowship. For their 2015 programs, the application deadline is February 4, 2015. For further information, please consult their website.