Housing4Hoosiers

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What steps can we take to address local inequities in housing and educational access in Monroe County?

Join us for a discussion at the workshop “Creating a Geography of Opportunity: Connecting the Dots Among Neighborhoods, School, and Housing to Increase Equity“ at the Monroe County Childhood Conditions (MC3) Summit  on Nov 19.

Registration now open!

Creating a Geography of Opportunity: Connecting the Dots Among Neighborhoods, School, and Housing to Increase Equity

Monroe County Childhood Conditions SummitMonroe County Convention CenterTuesday, Nov. 19, 10:45-noon

School equity and zip codes are intimately connected. This workshop, led by educational equity researchers, the Bloomington Housing Authority, and nonprofit South Central Indiana Housing Opportunities, will paint a picture of this issue in Bloomington’s local inequities in housing and educational access.

Research shows that children from low-income households who grow up in “high-opportunity” neighborhoods are more likely to go to college and have higher average earnings. Yet, families with Housing Choice Vouchers often live in areas of concentrated poverty. How can we improve the “geography of opportunity” with better equity options for low-income families?

This workshop has four parts, with a focus on engagement:

  • Map out the context by presenting recent local research on equity
  • Listen to stories from anonymized residents that illustrate key conditions
  • Network toward solutions using a discussion protocol to gather attendee input and focus it toward action .
  • Connect actions with concrete next steps among attendees and identified stakeholders

Panelists:

Christy Wessel Powell is an Assistant Professor of Education at Purdue University; her research team- Gina Weir, Alex Panos, and Casey Pennington- was awarded a grant to study the connection between neighborhoods and school equity using a geographical lens during the summer of 2019.

Amber Skoby is Executive Director of the Bloomington Housing Authority, and Deborah Myerson is Executive Director of South Central Indiana Housing Opportunities.