After seven years of service in the U.S. Army and National Guard, Landon Pitts was ready to take on something new. He just wasn’t sure what that something was.
On the advice of friends, he decided to attend college and major in business. While studying for his undergraduate degree, Pitts was vice president of Winthrop Student Veterans and started volunteering with organizations and initiatives to assist fellow veterans.
“I learned I had a passion for community service. I volunteered on weekends, between classes, anything I could do,” he says.
He had found his niche and began participating in more volunteering opportunities. When he completed his business degree, Pitts decided to study for a master’s degree in social work at the University of South Carolina and pursue a career doing something he would love “even if I wasn’t getting paid.”
An internship at the Council on Aging in Newberry County, where his hometown of Little Mountain is located, piqued his interest in rural behavioral health care and advocacy.
“My journey began with serving fellow veterans, but over time volunteering within my community, especially rural areas like my home county become a calling for me,” says Pitts, who will complete his MSW in 2027. “At the Council on Aging, I worked with individuals in the early stages of dementia who were isolated with lack of access or transportation to mental health services for depression and other issues.”
An initiative funded by a grant from the South Carolina Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare is helping to prepare MSW students like Pitts for rural behavioral health practice. The Rural Occupations Workforce Expansion will place 14 students during the two years of the grant in internships in rural areas. Pitts is among seven students named as a ROWE Scholar this year who will receive a $2,000 stipend and may be eligible for mileage reimbursement. ROWE Scholars also will complete a learning module on rural behavioral health practice, participate in online case-based discussions, and have the opportunity to participate in conferences and additional voluntary training.
ROWE expands on previous work, also funded by the Center for Rural and Primary Healthcare, by offering additional education and specialized support to students in rural field placements and training for behavioral health care practitioners.
“South Carolina is a largely rural state, and those communities have unique strengths and some challenges for access to services,” says social work professor and principal investigator Aidyn Iachini. “Our goal is to both prepare our students with specialized training for the complexities of serving in these communities and to support current practitioners.”
Iachini adds that South Carolina has some of the lowest rankings in the United States for its health care system, and when focused on access to mental health care, SC ranks 49th out of all states. Another critical challenge for the state is the shortage of a well-qualified rural behavioral health workforce.
“By focusing on social work students and professionals currently practicing in rural behavioral health care, we can help address the needs of South Carolina residents,” Iachini says.
Becoming a ROWE Scholar affirmed Pitts’s decision to be an advocate for rural communities and help improve access to quality care and services.
“It is an honor to receive this scholarship. It confirms that I’m on the right track and aligns with my goals to better the communities that I want to serve as a behavioral health social worker,” he says.
My journey began with serving fellow veterans, but over time volunteering within my community, especially rural areas like my home county become a calling for me.
Dorene Dolford, also a ROWE Scholar and U.S. Army veteran, is excited about the hands-on experience and education the program will provide. Dolford, a Chicago native who will complete her MSW in 2026, says she became interested in serving in a rural community when she experienced how gaps in access to care impact people dealing with mental health challenges.
“I hope to contribute to the overall well-being of residents in rural communities by helping to address disparities in behavioral health care and expanding education and awareness of resources,” she says.
Dolford, who is married with three children, and Pitts, who is engaged and has seven dogs, are both currently employed full-time at the Veteran’s Administration in Columbia. They are representative of this cohort of ROWE Scholars with diverse backgrounds from military service and law degrees to working in school or hospital settings.
“They are a unique, sharp group of students who have at some point in their personal or professional experiences encountered issues within rural communities that they feel passionate about helping to address,” Iachini says.
Candice Morgan, a social work professor and co-PI, believes the ROWE Scholars program will have both immediate and long-lasting benefits for the behavioral health outcomes of South Carolina residents in rural areas.
“As these seven scholars progress through the program curriculum, they are learning and applying engagement and intervention skills shown to address the specific opportunities and challenges faced by rural South Carolinians in real time,” Morgan says. “One week they may learn about social and economic challenges and apply evidence-based interventions with their clients in field. Down the road, I believe the interactions scholars have with their rural clients will have a ripple effect — rural clients will develop trust and confidence in their behavioral health providers resulting in better retention and positive health outcomes.”
In fact, another goal of the ROWE initiative is workforce retention and burnout prevention by creating a series of eight training sessions to be delivered in partnership with the S.C. Area Health Education Consortium. Some sessions also will focus on suicide assessment for both youth and adult populations. An added benefit is that the sessions provide free continuing education units for practitioners. Trainings offered through a previous grant exceeded participation goals, which Iachini says demonstrates the need for these learning experiences.
ROWE also will provide funding for field instructors and liaisons in rural communities, which helps organizations partner with the program if they currently don't have a social worker on site. The program’s impact will be shared through scholarly outlets and an expanded website for wider access, and outcomes will be evaluated and documented to aid future initiatives and funding.
After graduation, Dolford plans to become involved in community outreach to address health disparities in rural areas.
“Some classmates have been talking about starting a nonprofit community clinic, so residents don’t have to drive up to an hour to receive treatment, whether from a primary care doctor, mental health provider or whatever their needs are,” she says. “We hope to tailor our services to local needs and to increase education and awareness.”
Pitts hopes to provide services for families experiencing trauma, addiction and mental health challenges and emphasizes the importance of local resources to address these issues.
“When people don’t get the help they need, mental health challenges can often lead to addictions, which could be prevented if they had access to resources locally,” he says. “The hands-on experience I’ll have as a ROWE Scholar will help prepare me for real-life situations. Books are great, but having those placements and mentorship to help strengthen my skills will help me better serve in a rural community.”
