Impact 2024

In 2024, Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan made significant strides in its action-based research to prevent and alleviate poverty.

We take pride in the impactful work we've contributed to in Detroit and throughout Michigan. The innovations we've tested and the lessons we've learned have profound implications for broader anti-poverty initiatives across the United States.

This annual impact report underscores the key takeaways from our efforts over the past year. We look forward to forging new partnerships and exploring new approaches to alleviate poverty in the coming year. To join the conversation and stay engaged with our work, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on LinkedIn and X. You also can give to support the research.

Director’s Message

Poverty Solutions Acting Director Kristin Seefeldt introduces the 2024 impact report in this short video.

Seefeldt is leading Poverty Solutions for the 2024-25 academic year, while Inaugural Faculty Director Luke Shaefer is on sabbatical.

Seefeldt has served as associate faculty director of Poverty Solutions since 2019, and she has established a national reputation for her contributions to U-M’s poverty research agenda over the past three decades. Seefeldt is an associate professor of social work and public policy.

Innovations in Cash Transfers

Photo of Luke speaking at the 2024 Baby Parade. Dr. Mona holds a baby in the background. Photo credit: Jenifer Veloso from the C.S. Mott Foundation.

Rx Kids

Rx Kids is the nation's first citywide maternal and infant cash prescription program, launched in Flint, Michigan, in January 2024. Rx Kids provides all pregnant mothers, regardless of income, with no-strings-attached cash of $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 each month throughout the baby's first year. Ninety-three percent of Flint babies born have been enrolled, meaning Rx Kids has “prescribed” more than $5 million to nearly 1,400 families. Rx Kids is a public-private partnership that utilizes TANF funding while protecting public benefits. With the success of the program and requests from other communities, Rx Kids has provided a “policy playbook” outlining the program's design so others may replicate it. Support for this kind of program has reached as far as former Vice President Kamala Harris, who included a similar program in her economic plan during her 2024 presidential campaign.

Explore the Rx Kids Policy Playbook

Chart showing the 'Top Needs and Priorities of GIG A2 Participants'

Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor

Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor (GIG A2) is a two-year pilot program that launched in January 2024 and gives $528 each month to 100 entrepreneurs and gig workers with low incomes in Ann Arbor, Michigan. As more communities test guaranteed income, GIG A2 uniquely focuses on self-employed workers to see how the extra cash helps them grow their businesses and affects their overall well-being. Early feedback shows people appreciate GIG A2’s streamlined application process and the flexibility of cash, unlike the burdensome paperwork and usage restrictions of other public assistance programs.

See the latest research findings from GIG A2

Promoting Economic Opportunity

Panelists from right to left: Zoe Kennedy of Force Detroit, Mike Peterson of the City of Detroit, and Amanda Nothaft and Sam Stragand of Poverty Solutions.

Community Violence Interventions

Community violence and economic mobility are connected. When children are exposed to neighborhood violence, it hurts their health, school performance, and job prospects, which continues the cycle of poverty. To find out how to effectively reduce community violence, Poverty Solutions is evaluating Detroit’s ShotStoppers program. The city gave grants to six community-based groups working to reduce violence in neighborhoods with high rates of homicide and shootings. Assessments so far highlight the particular success of identifying and leveraging already-existing community-based efforts and developing long-term relationships with young people.

Watch a panel discussion on ShotStoppers

SummerWorks participants engaging in small groups, talking about professional development.

Youth Employment Opportunities

SummerWorks promotes economic mobility and educational attainment by encouraging youth to explore careers and postsecondary education, develop professional networks, and gain essential job skills. The summer youth employment program placed Washtenaw County youth in 105 paid internships and matched 38 youth with mentors in 2024. Along with offering professional development to the young adults, SummerWorks staff also advise employers and mentors on how to create inclusive workplaces that attract and retain the next generation of talent.

See the SummerWorks mentorship curriculum

SummerWorks resources for young professionals

Addressing the Costs of Housing Instability

Left to right: Associate Professor Roshanak Mehdipanah, Kate Brantley, and Melika Belhaj of Housing Solutions for Health Equity gather with David Allen of the Michigan State Housing Development Authority at a presentation of their 2024 Michigan Statewide Housing Needs Assessment. Mehdipanah is the faculty director of Housing Solutions for Health Equity.

Assessing Housing Needs

A safe, affordable, and stable home is one of the foundations of economic stability. In 2024, research supported by Poverty Solutions:

• Assessed Michigan’s housing inventory, demand, and affordability; and
• Shed new light on the long-term costs to tenants of eviction filings, even when tenants experience a “best-case scenario” outcome in court.

Michigan Statewide Housing Needs Assessment

Collateral Consequences of Eviction Court Filings

Young man filming in front of a house for a video on Detroit’s new youth rapid rehousing program

Responding to Student Homelessness

Poverty Solutions continues to track data on youth experiencing homelessness across the country. This research informed an $800 million federal allocation in 2021 to help schools reach students experiencing homelessness after the pandemic. To follow up on that work, Poverty Solutions staff interviewed school staff to better understand the barriers to identifying and serving students who don’t have a stable place to live. Staff also produced a mini-documentary on how youth engagement shaped a new rapid rehousing program in Detroit that can serve as a model for other communities working to address youth homelessness.

Watch the mini-documentary

Use interactive data profiles to learn about child homelessness in your community

Laying the Foundation for Reparations

Overlaid maps showing that Detroit’s urban renewal project areas from 1950-1963 coincided with residential areas of Detroit’s non-white population. Areas of Black displacement are highlighted in the map. (Harms Report for the Detroit Reparations Task Force: Executive Summary, 2024)

Quantifying Historical Harms to Detroit’s Black Residents

Making a case for reparations begins with detailing injustices and quantifying the harms experienced by the affected group. Poverty Solutions convened an interdisciplinary group of U-M scholars to compile a harms report for the Detroit Reparations Task Force. The Task Force identified five focus areas: housing, policing, quality of life, education, and economic development and economic insecurity. Beginning with housing, the harms report details how discriminatory city policies in the 20th century laid the foundation for enduring financial, social, and racial inequities that emerge across the other focus areas.

Read the Detroit harms report executive summary

Hear from the Detroit Reparations Task Force

Supporting Participatory Democracy

Empowering Voters

In an election year, voters directly engage with candidates and influence their policy agendas. Poverty Solutions created non-partisan issue guides to support Michigan voters in talking to candidates about poverty, homelessness, affordable housing, and child care. Leading up to the November election, Poverty Solutions also shared findings from the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study’s public opinion surveys on Detroiters’ priorities for city and federal government as well as Detroiters’ intentions to vote and how they think about civic engagement.

Poverty On The Ballot

See Detroiters’ priorities for elected officials

Look to Michigan to Advance Poverty Solutions

By 2034, the University of Michigan aims to be the defining public university, boldly exemplified by its innovation and service to the common good. Over the coming years, U-M will harness its excellence and resources to make demonstrable advancements in the areas of:

• life-changing education;
• human health and well-being;
• democracy, civic, and global engagement; and
• climate action, sustainability, and environmental justice.

Below are examples of how Poverty Solutions’ work aligns with the university’s priority areas for the Look to Michigan: Vision 2034 campaign.

Life-Changing Education

Students from all disciplines have an opportunity to engage with Poverty Solutions through research assistantships, internships, our Real-World Perspectives on Poverty Solutions Speaker Series course, and design challenges where students apply critical thinking skills to address real-world structural challenges and inform solutions. In 2024, Poverty Solutions employed 56 students and awarded research funding to three doctoral candidates.

"The speakers shared diverse analyses and interpretations of specific poverty issues. They introduced me to more actionable, plausible, and specific solutions that are occurring or have been proposed. I still have much to learn about the causes and consequences of poverty, but I now feel a stronger sense of self-efficacy and knowledge that I will draw upon in my future efforts to address opportunity gaps and dismantle barriers to accessing wealth, education, health, and well-being."

Julie Gilbertsen
student in the Real-World Perspectives on Poverty Solutions course

"When I was pitching this anti-poverty event to various departments and centers, Trevor Bechtel, student engagement and outreach manager at Poverty Solutions, was the first to take it seriously. He offered to provide the structure and institutional credibility that I needed to start raising funds and assembling partners. He met with me regularly over the next couple months to brainstorm and plan the event. Thanks to Trevor's backing, I was able to raise $6,000 from sponsors and start bringing state and national partners on board."

Malcolm Phelan
Michigan Law student who organized the Debt Innovation Design Challenge, which helped inform new initiatives and pilot programs addressing predatory debt collection in Illinois and Pennsylvania

"My work with Poverty Solutions, in partnership with the Ownership Initiative, has given me access to an extensive network of expertise, resources, and data-driven strategies. With their support, I've been able to drive innovative solutions like scaling the Motor City Contractor Fund, which equips local contractors with the tools and resources they need to thrive. The emphasis on collaboration, evidence-based practices, and the prioritization of community voices has deepened my passion for meaningful, grassroots-focused change."

Deandrea White
Community projects fellow at U-M Poverty Solutions and the Ownership Initiative

Human Health and Well-Being

Poverty Solutions views poverty as the result of interlinked systems – housing, education, criminal justice, labor markets, health care — that fail to function as they should for people with low incomes. These systems have a major impact on overall health, well-being, and quality of life. Addressing issues of social and economic mobility at the local, state, and federal policy level has the potential to translate to scalable health outcomes for society as a whole.

"Poverty Solutions was one of the first units on campus to support PEACH and its mission to improve the equity of care to children in our health system. Poverty Solutions has provided critical expertise in our assessments of potential inequities of care for children from families of different income levels and socioeconomic status."

Dr. Gary Freed
director of Program for Equity in Adolescent and Child Health (PEACH) and a professor of pediatrics and health management and policy

"Working with a world-class research shop like Poverty Solutions to complete an impartial analysis on the economic and health impacts of a proposed Paid Family and Medical Leave program in Michigan provided exactly what we and policymakers in Lansing needed to have a healthy, evidence-based debate about an important issue."

Sean Egan
deputy director of the Office of Labor, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity

Democracy, Civic, and Global Engagement

Poverty Solutions shares research findings and actionable policy recommendations with policymakers, practitioners, and community members to help them make well-informed decisions in their civic engagement. Media attention is a key way Poverty Solutions contributes to broader conversations about poverty issues; in 2024, our faculty affiliates, staff, research publications, and data tools generated 644 media mentions.

"Public opinion surveys in Detroit, particularly through the Detroit Metro Area Communities Study, play a vital role in amplifying residents' voices and fostering greater civic engagement. Our collaboration with the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions enhances this impact by providing deeper insights into community needs and empowering local leaders to make data-driven decisions that address poverty and inequity."

Mara Ostfeld
assistant research scientist and co-lead of DMACS at U-M

"For too long, our justice system has largely been a black box. Data has been hard to come by, and people simply don’t know what’s happening in our courts. The Prosecutor Transparency Project, in partnership with U-M’s Poverty Solutions, seeks to change that. We’ve worked to transparently release data relating to prosecutorial decision-making, and Poverty Solutions has been instrumental in ensuring that data is released in a digestible way. The net result will be more civic engagement. Citizens will be better able to stay engaged, advocate for policy change, and—most fundamentally—to be aware of what’s happening in a system that has a profound impact on people’s lives."

Eli Savit
Washtenaw County Prosecutor

Climate Action, Sustainability, and Environmental Justice

People living in poverty are especially vulnerable to climate change impacts like extreme weather, and they often lack the resources to recover from natural disasters. Discriminatory housing policies force people with low incomes and people of color into areas with higher pollution and environmental hazards. Poverty Solutions' research shows a pressing need for more resources to help low-income households afford home repairs to improve the quality and sustainability of their housing.

"We know severe weather can profoundly impact health, and through this project, we can evaluate how best to assess the condition and readiness for electrification and to identify barriers and facilitators of the transition to clean energy in residential housing, so local housing and energy service providers can administer electrification interventions and know how best to measure its impacts, including impacts on health."

Carina Gronlund
research assistant professor at U-M’s School of Public Health

Poverty Solutions supported Gronlund and representatives from Green and Healthy Homes Initiative, Pecan Street Inc, and Jefferson East Inc. in Detroit in creating a survey and hosting a focus group for research backed by the National Science Foundation that will design, pilot, and evaluate a Decarbonization Readiness Assessment for residential homes.

"We found in our research that housing is a critical link between poverty and environmental justice. When people lack the means - financial, political, or otherwise - to maintain the home they live in, they are more likely to experience environmental injustices such as a lack of access to safe and affordable drinking water. The support from Poverty Solutions has made it possible for us to collaborate with communities and non-governmental organizations to better understand, and develop solutions for, equitable drinking water access in Detroit."

Sara Hughes
former associate professor in the School for Environment and Sustainability at U-M, now senior policy researcher at RAND

"Poverty Solutions’ Home Repair Resource Guide is a resource universally referred to among home repair providers for many years. In a space where funding and programs are constantly changing, it was the first attempt to at least list out what was available at a certain point in time. As I’ve progressed in my work with the Citywide Home Repair Task Force, I’ve regularly revisited past reports from U-M Poverty Solutions. The research they’ve done has been incredibly helpful to reference both as a point in time comparison and as work to build from."

Heather Zygmontowicz
Senior Housing Advisor, City of Detroit

The People Who Make the Work Possible

We appreciate the many supporters and partners who join us in this work. We are especially grateful for the funders of our current research projects: American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, Brilliant Detroit, C.S. Mott Foundation, City of Ann Arbor, City of Detroit, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, Erb Family Foundation, Joyce Foundation, Kresge Foundation, McGregor Fund, Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity, Pecan Street Inc., Rocket Community Fund, Russell Sage Foundation, SchoolHouse Connection, The Ownership Initiative, United States Department of Health and Human Services, United Way for Southeastern Michigan, University of Michigan, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and Washtenaw County. We also appreciate the other individuals and organizations whose support makes Poverty Solutions’ work possible.

You can meet the Poverty Solutions team by clicking through the headshots below. We hope you’ll stay connected to our work by subscribing to our newsletter, following us on LinkedIn, or giving to support the research. Together, we can continue to make a positive difference in the lives of millions of people by advancing new solutions to poverty.

The 2024 Impact Report for the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions was prepared by Lauren Slagter, Karissa Knapp, and Joe Payovich. Poverty Solutions used AI to refine the content in this report.

Photos and videos used in this report are from Michigan Photography, Jenifer Veloso of the C.S. Mott Foundation, Housing Solutions for Health Equity, Poverty Solutions staff, Amy K. Senese, and licensed through Shutterstock and Canva. Headshots provided by the individuals pictured.

Stronger Together: Scaling innovations and lessons learned in poverty alleviation Impact Report for Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan 2024

Director’s Message

What You'll Find in this Report

Innovations in Cash Transfers

Promoting Economic Mobility

Addressing the Costs of Housing Instability

Laying the Foundation for Reparations

Supporting Participatory Democracy

Look to Michigan to Advance Poverty Solutions

Innovations in Cash Transfers

Rx Kids

Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor

Promoting Economic Opportunity

Community Violence Interventions

Youth Employment Opportunities

Addressing the Costs of Housing Instability

Assessing Housing Needs

Responding to Student Homelessness

Laying the Foundation for Reparations

Quantifying Historical Harms to Detroit’s Black Residents

Supporting Participatory Democracy

Empowering Voters

Look to Michigan to Advance Poverty Solutions

Life-Changing Education

Human Health and Well-Being

Democracy, Civic, and Global Engagement

Climate Action, Sustainability, and Environmental Justice

Our 2024 Impact by the Numbers

0

Active research projects

0

Research publications

$80,000

In seed grants awarded to U-M faculty

0

Student research assistants employed

0

Media mentions

0

Social media engagements

The People Who Make the Work Possible

Stronger Together: Scaling innovations and lessons learned in poverty alleviation

Impact Report for Poverty Solutions at the
University of Michigan

2024

In seed grants awarded
to U-M faculty

Student research
assistants employed