Community-Academic Research News
October 2018
Detroit URC Board Partner Spotlight: An interview with Suzanne Cleage, Director of Neighborhood Growth, Eastside Community Network (ECN)
The Eastside Community Network (formerly Warren/Conner Development Coalition) has been spearheading community development on Detroit's east side for over 30 years. 
They work with residents and partners to drive lasting, positive change in their neighborhoods and communities. This positive transformation is achieved through resident engagement, multi-sector collaborations, advocacy, leadership development, and innovative approaches to land development.

Suzanne Cleage, Director of Neighborhood Growth, recently spoke with us about her work at ECN and how she benefits from serving on the Detroit URC Board. “I gain the ability to connect with other community leaders and researchers to gain insight and knowledge around health disparities," she told us. "It also gives me the opportunity to represent my people .” Read on for more excerpts from our interview.

How did you first get involved with Detroit URC?

ECN has been involved with the Detroit URC since its inception in 1995. We were known as Warren Conner Development Coalition back then. As staffing changes occurred, different individuals get appointed to the Board. When I began my employment at ECN in 2015, a part of my responsibility was to represent ECN and the residents of the eastside.

The mission of ECN is to develop people, places and plans for sustainable neighborhood growth on Detroit's eastside. How has Detroit URC helped you advance your mission?

Improving the health and wellness through a holistic approach, as well as addressing community/place-based needs, provides for sustainable neighborhoods. In working to address social disparities in health related issues, we continue to educate and empower residents to change their behaviors for a better tomorrow as well as advocate for better living conditions.

Working with the Detroit URC and its affiliated partners has helped ECN by providing educational information at Summits (ECN educational forums which address specific community concerns), and providing evaluation and consultation on health initiatives administered in the 48213 zip code, also known as the Chandler Park Healthy Neighborhood Initiative. The Detroit URC sat on the executive committee through the planning and implementation phases of that initiative that addressed type 2 diabetes and hypertension.
I also appreciate the fact that community input is valued in the decisions which impact Detroiters. The Detroit URC continues to believe and support equity and community participation in all the work they do. I have had the pleasure of reviewing grants and CBPR academy submissions to ensure the community voice and participation are always at the forefront.
 
Are there other ways in which your partnership with the Detroit URC is helpful for you and ECN?

Through the Detroit URC, ECN has developed a wonderful lasting partnership with U-M School of Information and Technology. This new partnership has led to bi-monthly meetings with residents to establish neighborhood tours and create entrepreneurs in our community. The School of Information has also volunteered for over a year now- providing hands-on computer/technology assistance to residents on the second Saturday of each month in our “Bring Your Own Device” workshops. ECN has also been able to support researchers in the School of Public Health with a lung cancer screening tool by recruiting residents, and hosting focus groups that provided resident feedback and evaluation of the materials aimed at reducing the disproportionately high rate of lung cancer among African American males.

For the rest of the interview with Suzanne, please click here .
Grant Application Deadlines Coming Up Soon
 The  Detroit Urban Research Center  currently offers two grant opportunities for community-engaged research in Detroit and the State of Michigan. 

In collaboration with the  Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR) and the University of Michigan (U-M), the Detroit URC administers a  Small Planning Grant Program  to help foster new community-academic research partnerships and collaborative health research efforts in Detroit.
 
In addition, now in its third year, the  Research Strategies to Prevent and Alleviate Poverty Community-Academic Grants Program , offered in partnership with U-M Poverty Solutions , helps to support community-academic teams to explore strategies to prevent and alleviate poverty in Michigan.
 
In both cases, the Detroit URC provides grant recipients with valuable capacity building support and mentoring. Read on for more details, or  visit our website for more information.

  • Deadline for Receipt of Grant Proposals: November 12, 2018
  • Notification of Award: December 10, 2018
  • Grant Period: January 1 - December 31, 2019

  • Deadline for Receipt of Grant Proposals: December 14, 2018
  • Notification of Award: January 14, 2019
  • Grant Period: February 1, 2019 - January 31, 2020
Detroit URC Board members advise on public engagement and inclusion
The Detroit URC Board figured prominently as part of the University of Michigan’s (U-M) 2018 Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Summit, held on Monday, October 8, 2018. 

Current Board member, Angela Reyes, Executive Director and founder of the Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation as well as former Board member, Abdul El-Sayed, former Democratic candidate for Michigan governor, and previous Executive Director of the Detroit Health Department and Health Officer for the city of Detroit, both served on a 5-person panel discussion.
 
The theme of the panel discussion was “Social Transformation Through Public Engagement." The panelists addressed topics pertaining to strengthening partnerships between communities and universities as well as improving diversity, equity and inclusion on campus.
 
Other panelists included Mary Jo Callan, Director of the Edward Ginsberg Center at U - M, Jim Leija, Director of Education and Community Engagement at the University Musical Society , and Luis Trelles, Producer of Radio Ambulante at National Public Radio and a 2018 Knight-Wallace Fellow at UM. 
 
Earl Lewis, professor of history and Afroamerican and African studies, and Director of the Center for Social Solutions , moderated the panel discussion. 

“I felt it was important for folks at the University to hear directly from the perspective of a community member about equitable partnerships between the University and community. I also wanted to lift up the work of the Detroit URC and community-based participatory research as an example of how academic and community partners have been working together as equal partners for over two decades and the significant impact it has had on our communities in Detroit.
"It was gratifying to speak to an audience that included the University President about issues that are so critical to creating an equitable society and the responsibility the University has to examine their own practices.”

For additional information regarding the summit, including a video of the panel discussion, please click here .
Essentials of High Performing Organizations:
The Partnership Effect
Two Detroit URC Board Members were featured in a New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Catalyst Event entitled “Essentials of High-Performing Organizations” this past summer. This event, which was hosted by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, also featured John Z. Ayanian, the Alice Hamilton Professor of Medicine and Director, U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation, who served as a moderator (pictured, center).

Kimberlydawn Wisdom (pictured, right) , Senior Vice President, Community Health & Equity and Chief Wellness & Diversity Officer, Henry Ford Health System , and  Joneigh S. Khaldun (pictured, left) , Director and Health Officer, Detroit Health Department , City of Detroit, Staff Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, Henry Ford Hospital, both spoke at the July Event.
Joneigh was one of two panelists discussing the “ The Partnership Effect ”, while Kimberlydawn moderated a session entitled “ High Performance Under Constraint ”.

NEJM Catalyst brings together top thought leaders in the healthcare field to share innovations and ideas with global audiences.
Have you checked out the recently re-designed, online Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) course yet?
A popular online course on Community-Based Participatory Research (CBPR) developed by the Detroit URC gives researchers, health and human service practitioners, and members of community-based organizations an opportunity to learn about CBPR. This approach to research equitably involves community members, organization representatives, and academic researchers in all aspects of the research process.

Last year the course was updated and re-designed as a web-based version. This popular foundational course was originally released in 2009 and continues to receive positive feedback from its graduates.

The course is free upon registration and continuing education credits for some disciplines are available for a small fee.

Please share this information with colleagues, including those who work in community organizing, advocacy, public policy formation, and health and human services.

MAPS on the Move
Launched in 2016, the Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success (MAPS) project is a National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR), National Institutes of Health (NIH) federally funded R01, which focuses on defining success in community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnerships, and creating and validating a tool that measures the intermediate and long-term factors that contribute to success in long-standing CBPR partnerships. 

The MAPS team is gearing up to start recruiting long-standing CBPR partnerships to participate in a survey to help them better understand partnership success. 

Eligible partnerships can receive up to $2,000 for participation.

To learn more about what it would entail for your CBPR partnership to participate in the MAPS project, please contact Megan Jensen at  [email protected] .

Please feel free to distribute among your networks as appropriate. Thank you for your help!
Updates and Announcements
Join Us in San Diego at APHA

Many Detroit URC and affiliated partnerships’ partners, staff and friends will be presenting at the upcoming American Public Health Association Annual Meeting at the San Diego Convention Center in November. 

For those of you who are able to join us in San Diego, please consider attending some of the many interesting and informative presentations listed here.
Save the Date! 

The Annual Detroit URC Partners and Affiliates Holiday Party will be held at 6:30 pm on December 11, 2018 , at Sindbad’s restaurant in Detroit. 

Sindbad’s , a nautically themed marina mainstay featuring seafood and steaks, is located at 100 St Clair St, Detroit, MI 48214. More details to follow .
Our Partners, Affiliates, and Friends in the News
Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice was highlighted in a recent Detroit Free Press Opinion Piece, as an organization working to address impending climate change problems on a local level. Detroit URC Board Member Guy Williams, was quoted on specific strategies and the importance of everyone acting now rather than waiting. For the full story, please click here .
The Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research (MICHR) has several grant opportunities available. 

The Building Capacity for Research and Action Award provides funding for community-engaged research partnerships and projects addressing community priorities in Flint and is designed for investigators, study teams, or community research partners. Applicants may request up to $5,000 for partnership development activities or up to $10,000 for conducting small-scale research projects.

The Traditional Seed Grant provides funding to faculty and community partners engaged in clinical and translational research and is for investigators or early career investigators. Grantees receive up to $5,000.

Lastly, the Community-University Partnership Seed (CUPS) grant provides funding for formation and maintenance of community-university partnership activities in support of research projects that address community-defined health priorities and is for investigators, study teams, or community research partners. Grantees receive up to $5,000.

Please click on the name of each grant to find out more information.
The Edward Ginsberg Center is delighted to share another round of Community Engagement Faculty Grants to provide funding this academic year for community engaged teaching and research. Click here for more information.



We want to hear from you!
If you have any upcoming events that you would like us to help publicize or if you or your organization were recently in the news, please let us know so that we can help let others know. Contact us at [email protected] .
As the Detroit URC embarks on its third decade of fostering health equity through community-based participatory research (CBPR), we recognize that this important, collective work is only made possible through the ongoing collaboration among these exceptional partner organizations:  Communities In Schools ;  Community Health and Social Services Center ;  Detroit Health Department;   Detroit Hispanic Development Corporation ;  Eastside Community Network ;  Friends of Parkside ;  Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice ;  Latino Family Services ;  Neighborhood Service Organization ;  Institute for Population Health ;  Henry Ford Health System ;  The University of Michigan Schools of  Public Health ,  Nursing ,  and  Social Work . We have quite a team, and we are grateful.