Feature

Celebrating Engagement on the Northside

June 19, 2015

An exterior view at sunset of the Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center

As the University of Minnesota’s Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) celebrates five years in its home on the Northside of Minneapolis, it does so with a new name and with a new grant that bolsters one of its important projects.

On May 20, the center was renamed the Robert J. Jones Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center in honor of the U’s former senior vice president for academic administration, who helped get UROC off the ground and into the Northside.

A week later the Bush Foundation awarded a $187,530 Community Innovation Grant to UROC for its Trauma Recovery Project (TRP). The grant program was established in 2013 for community stakeholders to find breakthrough solutions to complex challenges.

Here’s a look at four ongoing UROC programs aimed at addressing complex and critical challenges in the community.

The Trauma Recovery Project, launched in spring 2013, builds on the strength of community expertise and University scholarship in the area of healing and historical trauma. UROC is convening families, U researchers, community stakeholders, health care professionals, and faith community representatives to identify trauma-related issues of importance to North Minneapolis and to create a roadmap for recovery.

UROC’s Northside Job Creation Team (NJCT) is a collaborative effort involving many stakeholders, with a goal of attracting 1,000 sustainable wage jobs to North Minneapolis by 2018. The NJCT is currently in discussions with business owners and community stakeholders to identify potential sites and facilities for start-up and relocation of businesses.

UROC's ongoing Sex Trading, Trafficking and Community Well-Being Initiative is applying research to tackle problems related to sex trading and sex trafficking. The initiative focuses on how North Minneapolis and other urban communities can take steps to help eliminate these issues.

Six University of Minnesota researchers have been named Generation Next/UROC Faculty Fellows. They will create teams to address the achievement gap in the Twin Cities and what practices might help close that gap. The fellows will create a scholarly roadmap that works in tandem with other University and Generation Next-based efforts.