KU student helps write grant worth $186,000 for Haskell diabetes clinic

LAWRENCE -- Jamie Lloyd knows firsthand how devastating diabetes has been to the Native American population.

Lloyd, a Stillwater, Okla., sophomore at the University of Kansas who also is 25 percent Tennessee Band Cherokee, lost two grandparents to the disease. Lloyd is the daughter of Jim and Nancy Lloyd of Stillwater.

"Naturally, I was inclined to care for this cause," she said.

Thanks to a class she took at KU, that concern translated into a $186,000 federal grant that will help the diabetes clinic at the Haskell Health Center, which is on the Haskell Indian Nations University campus in Lawrence.

As part of her human development and family life course in community leadership, Lloyd worked closely with health officials at Haskell to write a continuation for a Health and Human Services grant that supports the clinic.

While other students were busy planning road trips for the fall break, Lloyd was busy writing and rewriting drafts of the grant, trying to finish the 30-page proposal in a one-month period.

"I was doing things for the project that we hadn't gone over in class, so I was kind of learning as I went along, making a lot of mistakes the first few drafts and having to revise them," she said. "It was crazy -- I just worked all the time on it."

The result is a grant that will help provide pharmaceuticals and supplies, such as dentures and chemical testing strips, as well as funding to hire a dietician and a part-time pediatrician. Perhaps equally important, the grant includes funding for several prevention programs that teach children, adolescents and adults how to maintain proper eating and exercise habits.

"Obesity-related diseases, such as Type 2 diabetes, are a very serious problem among Native Americans," said Randy Barnoskie, director of the Haskell Health Center. "Diabetes prevention sounds simple -- eat appropriately, exercise appropriately -- but obviously the message isn't getting out there."

Barnoskie, who supervised Lloyd throughout the grant-writing process, said diabetes prevention is a problem that extends beyond the Native American population.

"Fast food is just too good and too cheap, so it's a problem that's on the horizon for the rest of the American population," he said.

Barnoskie said Lloyd's energy and enthusiasm helped lift the burden of writing a grant while overseeing a health clinic.

"She definitely saved me time," he said. "I have a lot of things to worry about besides writing a grant. It allowed me to focus on what I normally do here, such as pay attention to patients and employee relations."

One of Lloyd's instructors for the KU course, Stephen Fawcett, professor of human development and family life, said prior students had developed projects that led to successful grant applications. However, he said, such cases were extremely rare among undergraduate students such as Lloyd.

"She's one of those extraordinary students that you occasionally get the pleasure to work with," he said. "She has a combination of a passion for making a difference and clarity of thought that is unusual."

Fawcett said Lloyd's work on the project was just one reason why she recently was chosen as a Multicultural Human Development Scholar. The scholarship provides a stipend, academic support and cultural learning opportunities for outstanding students from different cultural backgrounds.

The experience also led to Lloyd getting a job as a writer on Fawcett's Community Tool Box, an online resource that helps community health officials around the globe by providing information in a number of skill-building areas, including how to write grants, conduct community listening sessions and influence policy development. Lloyd relied heavily on the Community Tool Box when she worked on the Haskell grant, she said.

Although the grant work is completed, Lloyd is still working on ways to help the Native American community. She is working with Haskell officials and architecture and urban design students at KU to develop a three-mile walking path on the Haskell campus.

"Haskell needs to have as many exercise resources on their campus for patients and students," she said. "An outdoor trail will help them gain a better appreciation of exercise because a beautiful walking trail would be right there at their front door."

She is not sure where the funding for the trail will come from, but she said she is working on a couple of fund-raising ideas, including a possible battle of the bands.

As for her long-term goals, Lloyd said she eventually plans to attend law school, and she will continue her work with the Native American population.

"There's no question in my mind that Jamie will be a lifelong advocate for healthy communities, particularly among Native American people," Fawcett said. "She will be a committed leader in helping create conditions that promote health and human development -- no matter what paths she takes."

Lloyd, meanwhile, credits both the class and the instructors -- Fawcett and Glen White, associate professor of human development and family life, for helping her make a difference.

"I give a lot of credit to my professors," she said. "Without their encouragement and guidance, I would not have fathomed that I could write a grant worth $186,000."

You can visit the Community Tool Box at ctb.ku.edu/.