Work

Comments From the South Side of Chicago on New Haven’s Inspiring Initiative

Year: 2012

Type: letter

Abstract: We read with interest the recent Field Action Report on the CARE (Community Alliance for Research and Engagement at Yale) initiative: Urban Youth Go 3000 Miles: Engaging and Supporting Young Residents to Conduct Neighborhood Asset Mapping.1 The CARE project resonates closely with our work on Chicago’s South Side.2 Our program, MAPSCorps, is a collaboration among The University of Chicago researchers, South Side community organizations, and youths and leverages philanthropic, corporate, federal, and public support. Since 2008, MAPSCorps provided paid work for nearly 100 community residents, including 24 high school students (aged 14–18 years) working as community asset mappers. We agree that engaging youths to quantify community assets is a highly successful model. Youths work directly with and present their findings to university researchers and community organizations, fueling a sense of ownership and impact.

Source: American Journal of Public Health

DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2012.300684

Authors: Stacy Tessler Lindau, Ramona James, Jennifer A. Makelarski, Ernest Sanders, Daniel Johnson

Institution: University of Chicago

Language: English

Topic: Community Health and Development

Subfield: General Health Professions

Field: Health Professions

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Sustainable cities and communities

Open Access status: green

Funder: National Institute on Aging