CRH Blog

It’s a homecoming for Alexander Hurla, the Community Resilience Hub’s newest staff member. He brings his love for the prairie and experience in the Veteran Farming Training Program at the Rodale Institute to his new role as the Regenerative Agriculture Farm Instructor.

Sheila Kjellberg’s heart belongs to her hometown of Salina, Kansas. With strong community values and a deep passion for equality and the environment, Sheila is committed to be part of the solution to make Salina and the world a better, healthier and more just place for all. The Community Resilience Hub Coordinator, Sheila is embracing the opportunity to lead projects and programs that will help KWU become a sustainable campus and for Salina to become a more resilient community.

As director of the social work program, Kelly Hopkins’ contributions to the CRH team are primarily academic. She has been working with an interdisciplinary faculty team to develop a minor in environmental justice that will be housed in the social work department. That statement often draws questionable looks, and inevitably she finds herself explaining how social work and the environment intertwine. Understanding the relationship between these two disciplines will inspire a broader perspective of how the new minor makes perfect sense for a variety of majors.

Sabrina Rosario got her first glimpse of the prairie as she drove to Salina to begin her new job as campus coordinator for the Community Resilience Hub at Kansas Wesleyan, and it moved her. With an insatiable desire to make the planet a better place, she has been inspired by the land, the people and the possibilities this new chapter will bring. Learn more about her vision for the CRH, her efforts to create interdisciplinary opportunities on campus, and her work to develop just, equitable and sustainable initiatives for her new community.

The Community Resilience Hub at Kansas Wesleyan University works to establish resources and provide support, research and education that will lead to a more stable, secure and equitable ecosystem in Salina, the state of Kansas, and beyond. It has been in the works for three years, and with new local and global partnerships, the possibilities are endless. But how was the idea seeded, and why does it make sense for it to be housed at Kansas Wesleyan University? President Matt Thompson shares his inspiration and passion for this project.