As COVID-19  swept across the city of Detroit, it brought with it a wave of food insecurity, particularly among low-income residents and seniors who rely on public transportation and can only afford to buy small amounts of food at a time. Now, a U-M research team has stepped in to help identify solutions. 

Survey results suggest that many families are struggling with rising costs and food shortages. Sixty-five percent of Detroit households report spending more at the grocery store in the last month, while 71% of those who report not having enough to eat in the past week point to the prohibitively high cost of food as a cause of their insecurity.

Modeled after a design studio, small teams of students will work with a portfolio of business owners within certain industry sectors to identify immediate needs and develop solutions. This approach should allow students to perform substantive work without overly burdening business owners who may be in crisis.

Students in the two-week program will get instruction and also wrap-around services, such as college application workshops, and writing workshops, mentored by U-M students, professional engineers, and U-M alumni.

“I hope that the work of our foundation, and the people we have invested in, will create a ripple effect of social justice for years to come.”
~ David Bohnett

“We have a team of interdisciplinary students responding in various ways: law students researching legal questions related to Small Business Administration lending, public policy students creating easy to understand guides, and design students designing templates for businesses moving to online sales.”
~ Justin Erickson, program manager for the Detroit Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project.

Despite the efforts of local government and nonprofits in the home repair ecosystem, Poverty Solutions’ research found there are simply not enough resources available to meet demand in Detroit.

“When I use some of those tools and techniques that I learned in Dr. Mohr’s class and my other Ford School classes to really try to unpack what’s at the root cause of both these challenges and these opportunities, what I come to is designers,” said Olga Stella, U-M alumna and now executive director of Design Core Detroit.

Half of the $5 million gift will establish the Weill Scholars Fund, which will provide tuition support and stipends for graduate students at the Ford School who come from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and are committed to advancing diversity in public policy.