City of Detroit

Real-World Perspectives on Poverty Solutions

Beyond Silos: An Inter-Institutional Framework for Understanding Poverty and Advancing Social Change

Oct 16, 2026, 12:00-1:30 pm EDT

School of Social Work ECC 1840

Kess Ballentine, assistant professor at Wayne State University School of Social Work and a research affiliate with Labor@Wayne, will present on her community-engaged research, which examines how labor policy and working conditions shape the well-being of low-wage workers and their families.

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Beyond Silos: An Inter-Institutional Framework for Understanding Poverty and Advancing Social Change

Policy Briefs

Suburban Detroit Water Unaffordability: Causes, Consequences, and the Need for Comprehensive Policy Interventions

May 15, 2023

Dana Kornberg, Mackenzie Taradalsky, Victoria Guster-Brown, Sylvia Orduño, Diane Weckerle

Download PDF for the full policy brief IntroductionMichigan is blessed with a significant portion of the world’s freshwater supply, but water quality and affordability have been persistent issues affecting households throughout the state. Overwhelmi...

Policy Briefs

Lessons from Detroit's Make It Home Program for Sustaining Very Low-Income Homeownership

August 10, 2022

Margaret Dewar, Roshanak Mehdipanah

Download PDF of full policy brief IntroductionLow-income homeownership is precarious. Households with limited income can lose ownership when they fail to pay their mortgages, which often have unfavorable terms, or property taxes, which are often inf...

house keys with a key chain that reads "home sweet home"

Policy Briefs

Analysis of the Census 2020 Count in Detroit

December 16, 2021

Patrick Cooney, Ren Farley, Samiul Jubaed, Kurt Metzger, Jeffrey Morenoff, Lisa Neidert, Ramona Rodriguez-Washington

Download PDF of full policy brief Executive SummaryEach year the Census Bureau releases an official estimate of the residential population of every municipality in the nation. The Census Bureau estimated that in 2019, Detroit had a population of ro...