Engage

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

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

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

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

Fatima Salman, SSW Engage Program Manager was recently interviewed on WDET’s All Things Considered program about how for American Muslims, 9/11 changed life in America. Fatima said, “It wasn’t just worrying about our country, or worrying that that happened to our country, but it was also the worry of what’s going to happen to us as a community in America.”

ENGAGE Program Manager Fatima Salman, MSW ‘15, was elected president of NASW-Michigan.  “I am honored and excited for my new role in this, a time when social workers are needed more than ever,” says Salman. “The effects of the pandemic have magnified the mental health crisis in our nation, the need to destigmatize mental health treatment, and the essential nature of social work practitioners in helping communities heal, deal with loss and be committed to equity and inclusion in all spheres of life.  This is THE moment that all of us social workers must step up and deploy micro and macro social

Read the ENGAGE team’s case study on Charles E. Williams II, PhD student and pastor at the Historic King Solomon Baptist Church. During the early days of the pandemic, Williams and his congregation spearheaded efforts to coordinate food delivery and other assistance to vulnerable Detroit area residents.  At the height of the response effort, 30 Black churches were mobilized to deliver 700,000 meals across the city of Detroit — allowing vulnerable residents to stay at home and help curb the spread of COVID-19.  Williams’ work exemplifies the power of connecting communities to resources, and how

Professor Trina Shanks was interviewed by West Michigan Fox Channel 17 about vaccine hesitant groups she has been researching. Shanks survey shows that over 50 percent of Detroiters intend to get the vaccine. “There’s people who literally said, 'I don’t want to take it' in December, but when the opportunity came, they did get the vaccine,” Shanks said.

Lecturer Ayesha Ghazi Edwin’s letter to the editor “Race and ethnicity shouldn’t determine women’s pay” was published in the Detroit News. Edwin discusses Asian American/Pacific Islander women’s Equal Pay Day writing “If we are to close the pay gap, we need to strengthen equal pay laws to allow women to discover and fight against pay discrimination.”