Engage News

ENGAGE Program Manager and Lecturer Fatima Salman was invited by Vice President Kamala Harris to attend the Eid ul Adha celebration at her residence last week. Salman spoke with Harris and Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff about the impact of social workers across the country. Salman is also the president of the Michigan Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers and the National Council of Chapter Presidents Chair.

MSW student Kevin Nguyen has been appointed to the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission by Governor Gretchen Whitmer. “As the only student and youngest commissioner to ever serve on MAPAAC, I am humbled and honored to represent the growing APIA population in Michigan.” ENGAGE Program Manager and Lecturer Ayesha Ghazi Edwin serves as chair of the commission.

ENGAGE Program Manager Fatima Salman spoke with WDET about both the critical role social workers play in supporting individuals and communities and how the celebration of Social Work Month supports the profession.

The state of Michigan officially recognized March as Social Work Month thanks to a resolution by State Representative Carrie Rheingans, MSW ’11.

ENGAGE Program Manager and Ann Arbor City Council Member Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, MSW ’10, worked with fellow City Council Member Linh Song, MSW ’04 and the Michigan chapter of the National Association of Social Workers (NASW-MI)  to officially proclaim March as Social Work Month in the city of Ann Arbor. “We have so many great social workers improving our society everyday, and serving at various levels of government — from local, to county, to state level and beyond,” said Ghazi Edwin. “Many of us were trained at U-M’s School of Social Work and carry our teachings into communities to improve society and create change.” Dean Beth Angell and Duane Briejak, MSW ’12 and executive director of NASW-MI, were also in attendance for the proclamation at the Ann Arbor City Council meeting on March 20, 2023.

ENGAGE Program Manager Fatima Salman (left) was elected last week to serve as the Chair for the NASW National Council of Chapter Presidents (COCP) for a two-year term. The COCP consists of the board presidents of all the 55 NASW chapters across the country. COCP coordinates the efforts across the chapters and moves as a collective body to influence policy and change for all social workers across the nation. Salman is president of the Michigan Chapter of NASW. “We have so much we can do collectively,” she says.

Youth Engagement through Cannabis Prevention and Employment Training

Faculty Member: Associate Professor Cristina Bares

Community Partner: Kartav Patel, Manager of Youth Services, Southwest Economic Services

Welcome to the Motor City: Exploring Refugee Resettlement Among Afghan Refugees and Beyond

Faculty Member: Assistant Professor Ashley Cureton

Community Partner:  Shadin Adityeh, Director of Employment and Economic Empowerment Programs, Jewish Family Services of Washtenaw County and Detroit

Tuxedo Project Community Map

Faculty Member: Lecturer Maureen Okasinski

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

Faculty Member: Associate Professor Beth Glover Reed

Partner: Angela Gabridge, Executive Director, Sage Metro Detroit

ENGAGE: Detroit Strategist Sonia Harb argues in Crain's Detroit Business editorial that the proposals Governor Whitmer outlined in the 2022 State of the State address can provide equity and stability for Michigan workers.

“As the governor emphasized multiple times, there needs to be a multi-pronged approach to solving a particular problem. We can't solve child care problems by only subsidizing the cost of care—we need to also support the provider network and care providers. Her systems approach to problem-solving shows she understands the complex problems facing our state and its residents, and what is needed to solve them,” writes Harb.

The conventional mortgage market is not working in Detroit, writes Professor Trina Shanks in a Detroit Free Press editorial. Shanks and her co-authors recommend new programs to support homebuyer education programs and establish a single-family residential rehabilitation fund. “We know the private mortgage market does not serve Detroit in the same way as it does adjacent communities. The evidence is indisputable,” writes Shanks. The article cites data reviewed by the Center for Equitable Family and Community Well-Being that shows that vast swath of Detroit, identified by neighborhood, see very little mortgage lending activity in relation to residential property sales. “We are in a once in a lifetime moment, where substantive federal investments are flowing into Detroit. Let's focus these infrastructure investments in a way that benefits Detroiters.