Neighborhood and community well-being

Margaret Dewar

Professor Emerita of Urban Planning, Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning

Margaret Dewar’s research is in the broad areas of economic development, housing and community development, urban environmental planning and urban land use. Her current projects address remaking cities following abandonment and strengthening deterior...

Staff

Leonymae Aumentado

Senior Project Manager

Leonymae Aumentado is a senior project manager at Poverty Solutions, where she supports various research and strategic projects, including the Guaranteed Income to Grow Ann Arbor pilot program and the Detroit Home Repair Resource Guide and lead-safe ...

Staff

John Bulat

Data and Policy Analyst

John Bulat is a data and policy analyst at Poverty Solutions. His work focuses primarily on the opioid crisis in Michigan and criminal justice-related topics. Prior to working at Poverty Solutions, Bulat spent eight years at the Center for Urban Stu...

Staff

Sam Stragand

Senior Program Manager, Detroit Partnership on Economic Mobility

Sam Stragand is the senior program manager for the Detroit Partnership on Economic Mobility at Poverty Solutions, where he works with community partners to conduct research and evaluation projects in Detroit. Prior to joining Poverty Solutions, Strag...

Faculty Affiliates

Lan Deng

Professor of Urban Planning

Lan Deng is an expert on affordable housing policies and affordable housing finance and has conducted extensive research in this area. Her research spans between the U.S. and China. In the U.S., Deng is a leading scholar in the research on the Low-In...

Faculty Affiliates

William Lopez

Clinical Associate Professor, U-M School of Public Health; Faculty Associate, U-M Department of Latino/a Studies

William D. Lopez is a clinical assistant professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and faculty associate in the Department of Latina/o Studies. His research and teaching center on racial health inequities, especially those exper...

Faculty Affiliates

Roshanak Mehdipanah

Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Health Equity; Associate Professor of Urban and Regional Planning

Roshanak Mehdipanah specializes in innovative research methods, including realist evaluations and concept mapping to develop conceptual frameworks linking complex interventions to health. She has published in the areas of urban renewal, housing and p...

Faculty Affiliates

Jeffrey Morenoff

Professor of Public Policy; Professor of Sociology; Research Professor, Population Studies Center, Institute for Social Research; Associate Dean for Research and Policy Engagement

Jeffrey Morenoff is a Professor in the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy and the Department of Sociology, and Research Professor in the Population Studies Center and Survey Research Center. He also serves as Associate Dean for Research and Polic...

Faculty Affiliates

Rebeccah Sokol

Associate Professor of Health Behavior and Health Equity and Associate Professor of Social Work

[email protected]

Rebeccah Sokol is an associate professor at the University of Michigan's School of Social Work and School of Public Health. Sokol’s program of research focuses on evaluating strategies to alleviate youth adversity and trauma, including preventing chi...

In the Media

Detroiters can’t fix up their houses without insurance — but can’t get insurance until repairs are made

Mar 25, 2026 Outlier Media

Detroiters, however, don’t have homeowners insurance at alarmingly high rates, locking them out of access to capital. At least 25% — and perhaps closer to 40% — of Detroit homes aren’t insured, according to a 2025 University of Michigan survey.

Houses on a neighborhood street in Detroit

In the Media

Detroit plans to double spending on home repair. It won’t come close to meeting the need

Mar 24, 2026 Outlier Media

The increase signals renewed attention to Detroit’s home repair crisis and could help hundreds of homeowners. But residents and housing experts say the funds are still far short of what’s needed, leaving many Detroiters living in unsafe conditions.

News Release

Detroiters cautious about government use of AI, U-M survey finds

Mar 24, 2026

Many Detroiters are still making up their minds about potential government use of artificial intelligence, with 41% of city residents reporting neutral views or uncertainty on whether AI's benefits to society outweigh its risks.

Illustration: a glowing, tech-like brain floating by a computer to signify AI

News Release

Poverty Solutions updates Washtenaw County’s Opportunity Index to pinpoint disparities in access to opportunity

Mar 12, 2026

Washtenaw County’s Office of Community and Economic Development has released an updated Opportunity Index, with technical support from Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.

A map of Washtenaw County that shows the Opportunity Index.

In the Media

Washtenaw County Opportunity Index improvements make it easier to track areas of inequity

Mar 10, 2026 Concentrate

The county regularly updates the Opportunity Index in partnership with Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan.

In the Media

Nearly half of Detroit seniors spend at least 30% of their income on housing costs − even as real estate values fall

Jan 13, 2026 The Conversation

For Detroit homeowners over 65 who overwhelmingly live on fixed incomes, unexpected costs – increases in grocery prices, rising health care premiums or an emergency repair – heighten their risk of financial instability and can even lead to them falli...

News Release

Rich cities, broke neighbors: U-M study exposes metro-level wealth divide

Dec 3, 2025

A new University of Michigan study shows how the patchwork of city boundaries and economic segregation combine to create a “tax base fragmentation.”

A map of tax base fragmentation that shows fiscal capacity ratio

News Release

Potential of grocery delivery services to increase food access in Detroit

Apr 8, 2025

New research from the University of Michigan points to potential ways to leverage grocery delivery services to improve food access in Detroit, where 32% of residents live a mile or farther from a full-service grocery store.

News Release

U-M study: Detroit’s Black homeowners gained nearly $3B in real estate wealth from 2014-22

Apr 16, 2024

A comprehensive new study from the University of Michigan's Poverty Solutions concluded that Black homeowner-occupants in Detroit amassed $2.8 billion in added home value between 2014 and 2022, which represents an 80% increase during that time.

University of Michigan Professor Jeffrey Morenoff (left) stands with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan (center) and other speakers at a press conference on April 16, 2024, about Morenoff's findings on how Detroit home values changed from 2014 to 2022. (Photo...

Feature

Murky homeownership status derails flood relief in South Carolina

Dec 9, 2019

This is part of a series of stories from the field for the “Understanding Communities of Deep Disadvantage” project.

A home in Marion County, South Carolina, sustained flood damage, as seen in summer 2019.

Feature

Moving the needle on syringe exchanges in Appalachian Kentucky

Dec 9, 2019

This is part of a series of stories from the field for the “Understanding Communities of Deep Disadvantage” project.

Map of the U.S. showing the most disadvantage communities by color coding counties

Journal Publications

Access to Technology-Mediated Community Mental Health Care Among Low-Socioeconomic Status Consumers With Serious Mental Illness: Qualitative Study

April 20, 2026

Alicia K. Stone, Tiffany Veinot

Journal article in JMIR Formative Research

Policy Briefs

Sheriff and Community Mental Health Partner to Bring Co-Response to Washtenaw County, MI

March 18, 2026

Matthew Alemu

Download PDF of the full essay Introduction“Don’t hurt them!” I heard this appeal from a Black male driving by what he likely interpreted as the start of an unprovoked police encounter with a civilian. At a quick glance, this driver’s perception mak...