She has organized regional mini-conferences on intergenerational service-learning in three states. In 2001, she coordinated regional participation (teleconference and on-site) with former Vice-President Al Gore's class on community development at Middle Tennessee State University. She served in 2000-2003 as Southern Regional Coordinator for Intergenerational Service-Learning in Gerontology. Dr. Hanks developed the curriculum for the first Alabama Leadership Institute for Older Adults - one of six such programs nationally - and she is Principal Investigator for the ongoing evaluation of the Institute. She has been Co-Principal Investigator in a multi-year evaluation of youth violence intervention. She has consulted with numerous local and national non-profit agencies in proposal development and program evaluation in areas such as disaster preparedness for senior citizens, health disparities, and fair housing. Her current research focuses on: (1) life histories of women in jail; (2) formal and informal sources of social support and their relative meanings for cancer survivors; and (3) social support for decision making among special populations facing disaster or catastrophic illness.