Strengthening Communities with Extension's People Empowering People Program

Authors

• Stacey F. Stearns, University of Connecticut - StorrsFollow
• Faye Griffiths-Smith, University of Connecticut - StorrsFollow

Volume

64

Issue

2

Abstract

Programs that encourage personal growth, community connections, and civic engagement are even more essential as digital technology and virtual platforms disconnect residents from communities. The University of Connecticut People Empowering People (UConn PEP) program is one option. It strengthens individuals and communities through a 10-week facilitated program, hosted by the community, and taught by UConn-trained facilitators. UConn PEP has expanded to other states, was translated to Spanish, Arabic, and Portuguese, and three other countries expressed interest in offering the PEP curriculum. Programs such as this are an area for continuous expansion as Extension adapts to the changing needs of audiences.

Authors’ Contribution Statement

SFS: Data analysis, writing original draft, writing review and editing. FGS: Data collection and analysis, writing original draft, writing review and editing.

Data Availability

The data are not publicly available due to privacy/ethical restrictions, as they contain information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Conflict of Interest

The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.

Recommended Citation

Stearns, S., & Griffiths-Smith, F. (2026). Strengthening Communities with Extension's People Empowering People Program. Journal of Extension, 64(2), Article 26. https://doi.org/10.66752/1077-5315.5631