Community Health Worker Apprenticeship Program Celebrates Graduation of Third Cohort

Featured photo: Graduates of the Community Health Worker Apprenticeship pose together at the Health Sciences Center campus in Hendersonville. Front Row (left to right): Jewana McEachin (Instructor), Adrianna Argueta, Cheryl Plott, Shirley Hines, Jyaire McEachin, Alexandria Parnell. Back row (Left to right): Shauntey Jives, Chelsea Peeler, Charlotte Shelton, Karen Darity, Kelly White, Devin Wiley. (Photo by Rich Keen.)

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The Community Health Worker Apprenticeship program recently celebrated the graduation of the third cohort of apprentices on Feb. 4, 2026.

The program is a collaborative effort of Blue Ridge Community College and Blue Ridge Community Health working together to support students. It is also a registered North Carolina Apprenticeship with the N.C. Department of Labor.

A Community Health Worker is a frontline public health worker who is a trusted member of and/or has an unusually close understanding of the community served. This trusting relationship enables the worker to serve as a liaison/link/intermediary between health/social services and the community to facilitate access to services and improve the quality and cultural competence of service delivery. A community health worker also builds individual and community capacity by increasing health knowledge and self-sufficiency through a range of activities such as outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy.

Shanda Bedoian, director of corporate and customized training at Blue Ridge, shared the importance of the program.

“Community Health Workers benefit the community by improving access to care, increasing health education, and reducing health disparities through trusted, culturally responsive support from local community members,” she said. “We have already seen improved access to healthcare and social services, increased health knowledge, stronger trust between residents and providers, earlier use of preventive care, and reduced health disparities in our communities following the graduation of the first two cohorts of the program.”

The February graduates of the program included:

Adrianna Argueta
Karen Darity
Shirley Hines
Shauntey Jives
Jyaire McEachin
Alexandria Parnell
Chelsea Peeler
Cheryl Plott
Charlotte Shelton
Kelly White 
Devin Wiley

Learn more at www.blueridge.edu/apprentice.