This Friday, our two graduate research assistants, Robert Golder and Katya Starostina, will graduate from the UMass Dartmouth Master's of Public Policy program. When it comes to demonstrating their contributions to the Urban Initiative, this picture is worth a thousand words: it shows Bob and Katya setting out to vol unteer for New Bedford's annual point-in-time homeless count, which took place on one of the coldest nights this year. They volunteered because they believed in the importance of engaging with the city's homeless population to learn more about how to better address their needs.
While the Urban Initiative will be sorry to lose two key players on our team at the end of the month, we're anxious to see what they do with their talents and newly minted graduate degrees. And at least for the summer, we'll make up for their departure with the third year of our summer intern program. Please help us spread the word by sharing this job description with area high school students who may be interested in our work.
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SouthCoast Urban Indicators Project
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Fall River and New Bedford School Committees and City Councils are in the throes of setting the school budgets for 2015. Terms like 'net school spending' and 'foundation budget' and the absence of context make these conversations hard to follow. Fortunately for you, we've got a SCUIP page for that!
- In Fall River, 81% of the FY14 school budget was covered by state aid; from FY09-11, Fall River has spent less than what's required by MA. Learn more here.
- In New Bedford, local funding comprised only 15.4% of the FY14 budget, while the city spent less than the MA-required amount from FY08-10. Learn more here.
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From the blog
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- Gloria de Sa's Sociology students, whom we matched with community-based research projects, have written posts for our blog. Read an overview of the process and their topics here.
- One group of students, which included our own Mike McCarthy, researched affordable housing concentrations in New Bedford. They even used an index to identify neighborhoods where new units of affordable housing stand to harm versus benefit those communities.
- Grad assistant Katya Starostina graduates on Friday with her Master's of Public Policy. In this blog post, she reflects on her time with the Urban Initiative. We're excited to see where her skills and experience will take her next!
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Events
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What: This week is Bay State Bike Week, featuring cycling events across MA and the SouthCoast and including this bicycle safety rodeo hosted by Fall River Mass in Motion. When: Sunday, 5/18, from 10:30a-12:30pWhere: Durfee High School, Ray Street parking lot What: The United Way of Greater New Bedford is hosting a series of community conversations to learn about the region's needs from the perceptions of its residents. Learn more here.When:Tuesday, 5/20; AM session: 8:30-11, PM session: 5:30-8 Where: Buttonwood Park Zoo, 425 Hawthorn Street, New Bedford Want your event listed here? Send us an email with the details before the first of next month and we'll include it here.
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Grants
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Blessings Project Foundation - deadline: May 31
The Blessings Project Foundation "supports grassroots non-profit organizations in their efforts to make our local community, our country and the world more equitable, healthy and humane." Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded with priority given to projects addressing poverty, hunger, homelessness, and at-risk youth. Learn more here. Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation - deadline: August 1 (pre-qualification)The foundation will award musical instruments to school music programs where a >50 percent of students qualify for free/reduced lunch. More details here. Unitarian Universalist Fund for a Just Society - deadline: September 15 Funding of up to $15,000 available for non-Unitarian Universalist groups working to promote systemic economic and social change through community organizing. Full RFP here.
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Job opportunities
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Urban Initiative Summer Internship ProgramAs noted, we've just begun recruiting for our summer internship program for area high school students. Click here to view the full job description. Education jobs posted on SchoolSpringLooking for a job related to education? SchoolSpring is a website that features job postings for teachers, school administrators, and nonprofit positions. There are currently many openings in both Fall River and New Bedford that we encourage you to check out and share.
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About the Urban Initiative:
The UI addresses challenges and opportunities in the region's smaller industrial cities, also known as Gateway Cities, with a particular emphasis on neighboring Fall River and New Bedford. In addition to conducting applied research, evaluating programs and policies, facilitating collaborations, and providing technical assistance to cities and organizations therein, the Urban Initiative serves as a knowledge base for urban policy issues in the region. Perhaps most importantly, our work to support cities supports UMass Dartmouth students. Graduate and undergraduate students enjoy the opportunity to apply their coursework in the field by serving as paid staff and interns. If you are or know of a UMass Dartmouth student who wants to work with the Urban Initiative, get in touch!
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