Center for Social Concerns

Ganey Collaborative Community-Based Research Mini-Grant Recipients 2007

"Environmental Health in Local Poor and Minority Neighborhoods"

Kristin Shrader-Frechette

Professor, Biology and Philosophy

Adrianna Petty

Minority Health Coalition

A project team composed of thirteen undergraduate students under the supervision of Dr. Kristin Shrader-Frechette of the Notre Dame biology and philosophy departments, Sheral Anderson and Adriana Petty of the Minority Health Coalition plan to investigate three different public health and environmental-health issues which they refer to as the lead project, the grocery project, and the green-space project. Risky blood-lead levels have been found in west-side South Bend children who are not living in houses containing lead-based paint.  Dr. Shrader-Frechette and her students plan to use census data, mapping techniques, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s Toxics Release Inventory data to try to determine if these cases cluster around any potentially hazardous sources of lead. They will then disseminate relevant information about identified sites to the local health department they are working with, as well as to local government officials and (if warranted) to local residents.  Simultaneously, the team will conduct the grocery and green-space projects in which they will identify, assess the effects of, and help alleviate unequal access to quality food and local recreational resources in South Bend, using mapping techniques and census-tract data on income levels and minority composition of citizens."

Abbie Wozniak

Assistant Professor, Economics

Kasey Buckles

Assistant Professor, Economics

Jesusa Rodriguez

St. Adalbert's Parish

Fr. Chris Cox

St. Adalbert's Parish

Assistant Professors of Economics, Kasey Buckles and Abigail Wozniak, are partnering with Fr. Chris Cox of St. Adalbert’s Parish in order to investigate the impact that  immigrants have had in South Bend, specifically on the local economy. They hope to determine what kind of economic impact may result from a mass deportation of undocumented area residents. To quote their proposal, “Understanding the economic contributions and impositions made by undocumented workers is an especially pressing task, as policy decisions about the fate of such workers are often made with no clear notion of their economic consequences.” The team, represented here by Jesusa Rodriguez, hopes to, “attach locally relevant numbers to largely anecdotal trends, which will in turn help policy makers understand the ramifications of policies targeting undocumented workers.” The team aims to identify an exhaustive list of transactions that undocumented immigrants and their families have with employers, government and charitable service providers, as well as suppliers of goods and services in the South Bend area economy. They will also survey local undocumented families.

John Borkowski

Professor, Center for Children and Families

Rebecca Pettit

National Youth Sports Program

Molly Shrewsberry

St. Joseph County Health Department

Julie Kessler

Undergraduate student

Molly Shrewsberry of the St. Joseph County Health Department and the Reducing Obesity Coalition of St. Joseph County has teamed up with Rebecca Pettit of the Center for Social Concerns and National Youth Sports Program, Professor John Borkowski of the Center for Children and Families, and undergraduate student Julie Kessler to address youth obesity in our county. They plan to survey National Youth Sports Program parents and children to determine attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions regarding healthy eating, assess food availability and affordability on the west side of South Bend, and finally disseminate their findings to local policy workers as well as NYSP student participants and their parents. In order to map access as well as administer youth surveys, the team will invite participation from ND student groups such as the Children's Defense Fund.

Judy Fox

Professor, Law

Richard Williams

Professor, Sociology

Jeff Vitton

City of South Bend

Brian Miller

Graduate student, Sociology

According to the Originator Times, at the end of 2006, Indiana had the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation. The Notre Dame Legal Aid Clinic has noticed an increase in the number of clients seeking assistance for mortgage foreclosures, and a high number of these cases appear to be related to predatory lending. Other research done in the sociology department and Law School shows that foreclosures have been on the rise in St. Joe County since 2001. In order to explore the causes of this problem, Judy Fox of the Law School, Richard Williams of the sociology department, sociology graduate student Brian Miller, and Jeff Vitton representing the City of South Bend, plan to link together information from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act , St. Joseph County Foreclosure data, and the South Bend Vacant and Abandoned Properties Listing. Statistical software and possibly mapping software will examine the interrelationships between subprime lending, foreclosures and vacant and abandoned properties. The results will be made available to South Bend policy makers and presented to community groups such as the Responsible Lending Coalition, as well as published in law, sociology, or other field-specific journals.