Posted on: November 10, 2025; Updated on: November 10, 2025
By
Carol JG Ward, ward8@mailbox.sc.edu
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.
Landon Pitts
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.”
The University of South Carolina is dedicated to improving the lives of South Carolina
residents. From developing the workforce that will meet the state’s growing needs
to spurring economic innovation and building healthy and vibrant communities, USC
is paving the way for a better South Carolina.
