Our grant program is intended to encourage the school community to engage meaningfully with communities across southeast Michigan and beyond, increasing the capacity of community organizations by leveraging the resources and expertise of the academic partners.
The program provides up to $5,000 to support activities that include new partnership formation, collaborative research, and social impact action projects. The competitive application process awards grants each year.
The SSW ENGAGE team is available to support the identification of potential community partners and in shaping project designs and proposals to ensure they align with grant requirements and best practices in academic-community partnerships. The team is also available to support the implementation of project activities and the translation of research to the community.
ENGAGE Small Grant Awardees
Detroit VOCES: Southwest Oral History Project-Online Archiving
Faculty Member: Lecturer Osvaldo Rivera
Community Partner: Irma M. Guzman, team member, VOCES
Fostering a partnership between the Interpersonal Violence Research Laboratory and Detroit LGBT to reduce health disparities among LGBT+ people of color
Faculty Member: Professor Katie Edwards, director of the Interpersonal Violence Research Laboratory
Community Partner: A. Nzere Kwabena, executive director, LGBT Detroit
Toxic Legacy: A Photovoice Project Documenting Industrial Pollution in Detroit and Hamtramck
Faculty Member: Assistant Professor Greer Hamilton
Community Partner: Rev. Sharon Buttry, board member and steering committee member, Detroit Hamtramck Coalition for Advancing Healthy Communities
BE-HEALED: A Community-University Partnership to Support Black Men's Mental Health in Detroit
Faculty Members: Professor Rich Tolman and Associate Professor Addie Weaver
Community Partner: PhD student Charles Williams II, INSIGHT
Empowering Detroit Together: Building Community Impact Partnerships
Faculty Member: Clinical Associate Professor Abigail Eiler
Community Partner: Yusef Shakur, Co-Executive Director, Michigan Roundtable
Black Ecclesiastical Intervention to Help Equip Affected Lives Enduring Mental Disorders (BE HEALED)
Faculty Members: Professor Rich Tolman and Associate Professor Addie Weaver
Community Partner: Alexandra Bolin, Impact and Improvement Coordinator, United Project
It's not just me! Black young adults' views of what it takes to live on the right side of the law: An intersectional-CBPR study
Associate Professor Camille Quinn
Community Partner: Rai LaNier, Executive Director, MI Liberation
Neighborhood Initiatives Examining Organizational Impact: A Quality Team Project
Associate Professor Katie Richards-Shuster
Community Partner: Alexandra Bolin, Impact and Improvement Coordinator, United Project
Community-led Storytelling in Detroit
Maureen Okasinski, LEO II
Community Partner: Erik Howard, Executive Director, Inside Southwest Detroit
D-Boy Dads: Exploring Fatherhood in Detroit
Professor Rich Tolman
Community Partners: Sam Donald, Director, Detroit Musix; Marcus Hille, Parent Think Tank; Willie Bell, Director, Family Assistance for Renaissance Men; John Miles, Fatherhood Coordinator, Children’s Center; Bomani Gray, Metro Detroit Father Policy Group
Youth Engagement through Cannabis Prevention and Employment Training
Cristina Bares, Associate Professor of Social Work
Community Partner: Kartav Patel, Manager of Youth Services, Southwest Economic Services
Welcome to the Motor City: Exploring Refugee Resettlement Among Afgan Refugees and Beyond
Ashley Cureton, Assistant Professor of Social Work and Education
Community Partner: Shadin Adityeh, PHD, Director of Employment and Economic Empowerment Programs, Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County and Detroit
Tuxedo Project Community Map
Maureen Okasinski, LEO II
Community Partner: Rose Gorman, Executive Director, The Tuxedo Project
Enacting Action Goals Informed by HOMES Survey: Services and Options for LGBTQ+ Older Adults in Metro Detroit
Beth Glover Reed, Associate Professor of Social Work and Women's Studies
Community Partner: Angela Gabridge, Executive Director, Sage Metro Detroit
The LGBTQ Senior Housing Project
Beth Glover Reed, Associate Professor of Social Work and Women's Studies
Angie Peron, Executive Director SAGE Metro Detroit
Expanding Youth Voice in Quality Assessment in Detroit: A Collaborative Project to Pilot and Disseminate a Youth-Led Evaluation Tool
Associate Professor Katie Richards-Shuster
Alicia McCormick Youth Development Director, Sarah Plachta Elliott Executive Director of the Youth Development Resource Center
Increasing Access for Black Transgender Individuals in Detroit
Daicia Price Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work and FLOURISH Director
Mykell Price Youth Program Manager Ruth Ellis Center
Promoting Infant Health and Wellbeing by Engaging Fathers in Home Visitation
Dr. Shawna Lee, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Social Work
Nickole Fox, M.A., C.P.C., Director of Community Wellness, American Indian Health & Family Services of Southeastern Michigan
Youth Civic Engagement Partnership
Dr. Barry Checkoway, Professor of Social Work
Ann Marie Leen, MCD, Assistant Vice President - Youth Services, SER Metro-Detroit
Well Being Together
Dr. Jaclynn Hawkins, Associate Professor of Social Work, Director, Vivian A. and James L. Curtis Center & Daicia Price Clinical Associate Professor of Social Work and FLOURISH Director
Steve Wasko, Project Director, St. Suzanne Cody Rouge Community Resource Center
Immigrant and Refugee-run Organizations in Metro Detroit
Dr. Odessa Gonzalez Benson, Associate Professor of Social Work
Matthew Stiffler, PhD, Research and Content Manager, ACCESS/AANM