Poverty Solutions awarded Engage Detroit grant
By Kathleen England
Office of the Vice Provost for Engaged Learning
Now in its fifth year of funding, the 2026 Engage Detroit Workshops grant program has selected seven projects for awards. The program supports small teams of U-M faculty, staff, students, and community partners in organizing workshops that strengthen partnerships between the University of Michigan and Detroit.
The grant provides up to $15,000 to support workshops or speaker series that build meaningful relationships and connections around topics linking U-M faculty and staff with Detroit communities. The provosts’ offices on the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses jointly support the program.
“This year, we received a record number of applications, and we’re excited to award seven projects. These proposals continue to inspire because they translate into meaningful, on-the-ground impact in Detroit,” said Morgan Yuncker, assistant vice provost for domestic engagement. “Across our three campuses, faculty, staff, and students are generating ideas with the potential to spark similar efforts in cities across the country.”
This year’s awarded projects include:
Documentary Screening and Panel Discussions about Youth Homelessness at Detroit Schools
Description: This project would bring a mini-documentary on Detroit’s rapid rehousing program designed by youth, for youth to four high schools in Detroit. Following a screening of the 12-minute video produced by Poverty Solutions at U-M and Detroit Phoenix Center, a panel discussion would allow teens and educators to hear from youth advocates, caseworkers and U-M researchers who study youth homelessness in Detroit.
U-M faculty/staff: Kristin Seefeldt, director of Poverty Solutions and associate professor of Social Work, School of Social Work, associate professor of public policy, Ford School of Public Policy and faculty associate, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research; Lauren Slagter, Poverty Solutions; Jennifer Erb-Downward, Poverty Solutions
Community partners: Detroit Phoenix Center
From Compliance to Climate Resilience: Public Weatherization Workshops for Detroit Land Bank Homeowners
Description: This workshop series will support Detroit Land Bank Authority homebuyers working toward “compliance” — DLBA’s minimum livable conditions — by demonstrating best practices for cost-effective rehabilitation upgrades that improve energy performance and reduce operating costs. Hosted with the DLBA, the series will live demonstrate high-impact improvements, including air sealing, insulation, and finish upgrades, while clarifying which tasks are appropriate for DIY and which require professionals. By strengthening the path from compliance to climate resilience, the series advances equitable homeownership and collaboration between U-M and Detroit partners.
U-M faculty/staff: Adam Fure, associate professor of architecture, A. Alfred Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning; Scott TenBrink, lecturer III in information, School of Information; Ellie Abrons, Taubman College; Sharon Haar, Taubman College; Matthew Wizinsky, Taubman College
Community partners: Detroit Land Bank Authority
Engineering Detroit’s Future: Empowering Detroit’s Next Generation through Engineering Exploration
Description: These workshops are organized by faculty, staff, and students from U-M’s Industrial & Operations Engineering and Robotics departments in collaboration with community partners and offers a set of two day-long, interactive sessions for high school students in the Detroit and surrounding area. The objective is to introduce students to the disciplines of IOE and Robotics by covering topics that range from cognitive and physical human factors to designing robots and machine learning, via interactive sessions, hands-on activities, and collaborative learning. This initiative, rooted in U-M’s commitment to creativity, integrity, excellence, and collaboration, aims to deepen ties with the Detroit community and inspire students to explore the dynamic worlds of IOE and Robotics.
U-M faculty/staff: Leia Stirling, professor of industrial and operations engineering, professor of robotics and director of Center for Ergonomics, College of Engineering; Albert S. Berahas, assistant professor of industrial and operations engineering, College of Engineering
Community partners: The Detroit Educational Takeover
Activating the Archives: Michigan Women in Jazz
Description: This project brings School of Music, Theatre & Dance, Center for World Performance Studies, and Marsal Family School of Education faculty and students into partnership with the Detroit Sound Conservancy to address persistent gender inequity in the field of jazz. If funding is not granted, this project will not launch on this scale; however, we will still use committed funds from U-M departments to partner with DSC on a single performance and panel discussion event for the public, limiting expenses by employing a smaller ensemble, and eliminating the costs of catering and event documentation for the archives.
U-M faculty/staff and students: Jonathan A. Gómez, assistant professor of music, SMTD; Marion Hayden, lecturer II in music, SMTD; Ingrid Racine, musicology Ph.D. student
Community partners: Detroit Sound Conservancy, Detroit Public Schools
From Street to Careers: Engineering & Sport Management Pathways in Detroit Motorsports
Description: This community-engaged workshop series, developed in partnership with Curry Motorsports and I Am My City, leverages Detroit’s motorsports culture as a gateway to engineering, mobility, and sport management careers. By building on existing community ecosystems rather than imposing external models, the project creates culturally grounded and sustainable workforce development pathways for Detroit youth.
U-M faculty/staff: Veronica Son, clinical assistant professor of health and human services, College of Education, Health and Human Services, UM-Dearborn; E. Shirl Donaldson, assistant professor of engineering, College of Innovation and Technology, UM-Flint
Community partners: Curry Motorsports, I Am My City
Heads Up @ SAY Detroit: Creative STEM for Concussion Prevention
Description: Heads Up @ SAY Detroit is a hands-on concussion prevention and safety workshop series for Detroit youth, developed in partnership between the Michigan Concussion Center and SAY Detroit Play Center. Workshops incorporate age-appropriate concussion education materials, along with STEM activities and creative instruction led by U-M student facilitators and Michigan-based artist Armone L. Tyson and Avery Williamson. The culminating product will be a replicable curriculum model for future injury prevention programming in Detroit and elsewhere.
U-M faculty/staff and students: Andrew Hashikawa, director of Capstone for Impact, associate director of outreach and engagement for U-M Concussion Center, clinical professor of emergency medicine and clinical professor of pediatrics, Medical School; Steven Broglio, professor of kinesiology, associate dean for graduate affairs, School of Kinesiology, adjunct professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and adjunct professor of neurology, Medical School; Tina Chen, Unit X Operations and strategic initiatives manager
Community partners: Say Detroit
Eco-Punks: Lessons from the 1967 Love-In on Belle Isle
Description: Eco-Punks is a collaborative project led by UM-Flint arts faculty member Ash Arder and SMTD faculty member Marcus Elliot, in partnership with Michigan Central Art and the Belle Isle Conservancy. Hosted at the Belle Isle Conservatory, this one-day interdisciplinary convening will bring together culture-bearers, activists, musicians, and scientists to examine how Detroit’s geologic landscape and rock music histories have been shaped by industrial growth and climate change.
U-M faculty/staff: Ash Arder, assistant professor of art, Department of Fine and Performing Arts, College of Arts, Sciences and Education, UM-Flint; Marcus Elliot, lecturer I in music, theatre and dance, SMTD
Community partners: Michigan Central Art, Belle Isle Conservancy