Building Capacity for Community-Led Survivor Services and Wraparound Care in Detroit Through Research-Practice Partnerships

Elena Ruíz, College of Arts and Letters
Sara’s House/Place Detroit
Women Healing Eternally and Transforming (WHEAT)

The partnership between MSU’s Research Institute for Structural Change (RISC) and the community-led victim service providers Women Healing Eternally and Transforming (WHEAT) and Sara’s House seeks to address the overwhelming public health crisis of gender-based violence in Detroit. Using collaborative, reciprocal methods, the 4-year partnership advances the availability of public health research to nonprofit service providers and develops the capacities of all three organizations to improve culturally responsive care to the Detroit survivor community. RISC's engagement with the community began with a direct ask from Sara’s House and WHEAT. The partnership addresses emerging needs and leverages MSU’s resources as a land-grant university to access evidence-based data, technical support, and expertise. Thus far, the partnership has raised nearly $400,000, which has been used for survivor-serving programming managed by WHEAT and Sara’s House, as well as training public health advocates in community-based methods. The partnership has also generated leading-edge scholarship on community-led research methods, along with community-facing curricula in violence prevention and trauma-informed care. RISC has partnered with community leaders to enhance the availability of culturally specific direct services and wraparound care while generating knowledge that can be used to advance public health partnerships between universities and community organizers everywhere.