Cooperative Extension program thriving amid pandemic

The Prairie View A&M University Cooperative Extension Program in Potter County has continued to reach its targeted services and resources population in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Jennifer Nickell, who serves as the Cooperative Extension Program agent for family and consumer sciences in Potter County, recently shared with the Potter County Commissioners' Court the scope of work executed as a means of maintaining contact with those in need of assistance. 

"We are in 35 counties across the state of Texas," said Nickell, who Prairie View A&M University officials said spent three years working with Baylor University’s Texas Hunger Project Initiative as the regional director in Amarillo. "The federal government has designated all of those counties as needing the Extension's help in terms of delivering services to limited resources populations. I primarily work with limited resources populations within Potter County."

Nickell acknowledged while there have been challenges from January to the present delivering services, officials said creative efforts have been initiated to provide practical research-based information to small farm producers, families, aspiring entrepreneurs and youth throughout the state, including Potter County.

"During the pandemic, I am fortunate to have funding from Amarillo National Bank that is for my program," she said. "So I'm not limited. Normally you have to go through lots of red tape, submitting paperwork, but with this funding from Amarillo National Bank, when the pandemic started, I immediately went out and bought a tripod, I have a GoPro (camera)  and immediately started doing programming and uploading it to YouTube."

Nickell said the brief informational segments aid in reaching her targeted audience and noted she has also partnered with a local television station to host a segment that enables expanded outreach. She said she continues to conduct senior programming at Wesley Community Center while also working with Heal The City clinic.

Witnessing the end result of working to assist the under-resourced in an often non-conventional manner has been a sight to behold, per Nickell.

"We've had all of this adversity," she said. "To see this community come together, to see how this community has given back and to be a part of that has been just incredible."

Prairie View A&M University officials indicated the addition of a Prairie View agent in Potter County enables the Cooperative Extension Program to better serve families in lower socioeconomic circumstances and reach more people in need.