Investing in Us Report Released

Though investment and community-based efforts to improve life for Detroit residents continues, our city’s recovery remains “uneven…[and] its status as the poorest big city in the country has not changed.” To help “drive policy and philanthropic innovation and complement existing efforts to improve economic mobility from poverty,” Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan’s Detroit Partnership on Economic Mobility has released its Investing in Us report. This project combines Detroiters’ stories and neighborhood-level improvement plans into a “unified city-wide vision of economic well-being.”

Detroiters “want to be a part of the decision making and feel valued and included in the fabric of their communities.” Thus, Poverty Solutions researchers focused their review on existing, Detroit-originated sources, from neighborhood-level plans, public comments and focus groups to news articles and academic journals which directly quote residents.

The report focuses on three investment areas to promote economic mobility, improve access to resources and remove barriers to advancement: economic stability, resident and community power, and valued communities. Read the full report, which also includes important contributions from McGregor Fund grantee partners.