Thanks to a new Honors College program, students no longer need to be Fellows to help out their fellow man in Alabama’s Black Belt region.

The new initiative, called 57 Miles, focuses on getting Honors College students involved in assisting with economic, social and educational issues in Perry County, Ala., with the ultimate goal of establishing a year-round presence in the area.

Wellon Bridgers, the University Fellows Experience coordinator who has been working closely with the development of 57 Miles, said the new program should further solidify the UA presence in Perry County.

“It’s really an extension of the University Fellows’ work in Perry County over the past four years through the Black Belt Experience,” Bridgers said. “Dr. [Jacqueline] Morgan [associate dean of the Honors College] wanted to take the original vision for the partnership and expand it to all Honors College students, because we feel everybody has something to offer.”

The initiative officially launched the week of Monday, Sept. 17, but Russell Willoughby, a sophomore majoring in English and French and one of two interns helping to get the project off of the ground, said the concept has been gaining momentum for about a year and fully materialized in August.

Willoughby said she has primarily been preparing for the program’s ACT preparation program at Francis Marion High School, where she will be volunteering every Monday morning throughout the semester. The Honors College will be hosting an “Evening with Perry County” on Oct. 5 in which new student volunteers will have an opportunity to meet with community members and learn about the area in which they will be helping. Several educational round table discussions are also scheduled for the coming months.

“It is absolutely critical that all of our students learn about the community they are going to be working with,” Bridgers said.

Willoughby feels students who take the time to learn will find the effort rewarding.

“[Perry County] is an extremely unique blend of two conflicting ideals — it’s entrenched in deep, systemic poverty, but is also home to a wealth of intellectual, technical and artistic resources,” she said in an emailed statement. “There are a bevy of Perry County residents who are extremely invested in and devoted to improving aspects of their city and are always willing to partner with those who share the same hope.”

Through the past four years and into the launch of the new program, the Honors College has worked closely with organizations like Sowing Seeds of Hope, Perry County public schools and the Perry County Chamber of Commerce.

John Martin, executive director of the Chamber, said the University Fellows’ “myriad of projects have helped make the community a better place,” but Perry County also has much to offer students.

“I like to look at our partnership as a win-win situation. These students have been and continue to be a tremendous help,” Martin said.“We as a community also have something for them that they can take with them in the future, an opportunity to interact and learn and see what real life is all about.”

Willoughby said her experiences in Perry County have been crucial to her college experience and stressed the program’s emphasis on learning from and with Perry County residents while helping rather than changing.

“I don’t think any of us should enter this program thinking that we have this duty to ‘change’ Perry County. That type of mentality lends itself to arrogance and inauthenticity,” she said. “I worried that we were encroaching on their territory and implementing our own ideas of success. However, my doubts were completely erased with every interaction I had with Marion residents. Something we emphasize when planning projects is that we don’t want to impress our own vision and interests at the expense of what the community actually wants.”

Students interested in volunteering may find more information on how to join 57 Miles on the Honors College website.