EVENT ANNOUNCEMENT

DATE: 4:30-6:30 p.m. May 21, 2013

EVENT: The University of Michigan’s Center for Advancing Research and Solutions for Society is celebrating five CARSS-funded projects making a difference in Detroit. CARSS provides seed grants that help turn social science knowledge into interventions for sustainable human development. Highlights from the five Detroit projects will be shared, followed by an open discussion with invited guests. The five projects are:

• Community College Success – The U-M National Poverty Center is working with local community colleges to design and evaluate interventions that support Detroit college student graduation and the transition to employment in growing fields such as health care and 21st century manufacturing.
• Detroit Foreclosures Crisis – Mortgage foreclosures hit Detroit neighborhoods hard. Community groups took advantage of programs to counter the loss of property values and to help neighborhoods recover. This project looks at which programs worked and why.
• Detroit Youth Social Enterprise – The project aims to build a safer path to self-sufficiency for homeless youth in Detroit by developing and evaluating programs that build job skills and micro-enterprise. The project also helps promote self-confidence and teach essential social and organizational skills.
• Detroit Health Impact Assessment – This project will look closely at potential health effects of Detroit Future City and recommend strategies to protect and improve the health of people living in Detroit’s highest-vacancy neighborhoods. The Detroit Health Impact Assessment is a community-academic partnership of the Detroit Urban Research Center.
• Data Driven Detroit – DDD provides geo-coded data on housing, land use, population, crime, traffic, etc. CARSS is supporting hands-on workshops for Detroit city planners to use these statistical maps and provide feedback on how the data source can be improved.

PLACE: Crystal Gallery Room, Detroit Institute of Arts, 5200 Woodward Ave., Detroit

SPONSORS: U-M’s Center for Advancing Research and Solutions for Society. U-M project presenters include the Graham Sustainability Institute, School of Education, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, School of Public Health and Ford School of Public Policy.

CONTACT: Raye Holden, (734) 647-5198, rholden@umich.edu

INFORMATION: www.carss.umich.edu