Ypsilanti COVID-19 Study

The Ypsilanti COVID-19 Study is a collaboration between Eastern Michigan University’s Family Empowerment Program and the Washtenaw County Racial Equity Office. FEP Director Marquan Jackson and Washtenaw County Racial Equity Officer Alize Asberry Payne serve as co-investigators on this project. 

Through a $25,000 grant from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan, the original goal of the project was to survey 500 low-income, African American Ypsilanti residents on the impact of COVID-19. This project will give voice to the needs of those disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and ensure local health and economic responses attend to issues of equity. 

Questions on the survey were drawn from the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study COVID-19 Rapid Response, but also included input from community members and stakeholders. Topics include exposure to and behaviors in response to COVID-19, changes to living arrangements and employment, feelings toward the governmental response, including the transition to virtual learning for respondents’ children, and so forth. A fully translated version of the survey is available in Spanish.

Impact of COVID-19 in Ypsilanti

Community Conversation

Articles

• Vaccine Distribution Requires That Medical Establishment Reckon With Institutional Racism 
  Trina Shanks, Phd, LMSW; Marquan Jackson, MSW; Alize Asberry Payne; and Patrick Meehan, PhD, MSW (1/4/2021)
• Study finds disparate COVID-19 impacts on jobs, housing, and more for Ypsi-area residents of color 
  Sarah Rigg (10/14/2020)

Related Publications

Meehan, P., Jackson, M., Asberry Payne, A., & Shanks, T. (2020). COVID-19's impact on Ypsilanti's residents of color. Ann Arbor: Center for Equitable Family and Community Well-Being at the University of Michigan School of Social Work.