The DePaul Migration Collaborative (DMC) is home to the Solutions Lab Research Grant program, an innovative initiative that
seeks to bridge gaps in services and support for migrants. Supported by generous funding from Schreiber
Philanthropy, the program targets vital challenges faced by migrants in the United States and around the world.
The Solutions Lab is designed to foster interdisciplinary, community-engaged research projects. Successful collaborations involve scholars and community partner organizations working hand in hand to identify and address critical areas of need. The unique partnership between academia and community organizations ensures that the solutions developed are not only theoretically sound but practically impactful. Each Solutions Lab project receives funding for six to twelve months of dedicated work. Teams are often comprised of DePaul faculty, staff, students, and even external academic collaborators. These interdisciplinary teams' partner with community organizations to co-design research projects that have tangible benefits for the community. The grant funding is thoughtfully distributed between the academic team and the community partner organization, reflecting the value and importance of both in the project's success.
The Solutions Lab has already made significant strides in assisting migrants settling in Chicago. Current projects include Prof. Lamont Black's work on overcoming barriers to mobile money and digital financial services, Prof. Cooper Mongeon's focus on enhancing retention in tutor programs for refugees, and Prof. Ramya Ramanath's project to study how forced migrants experience homelessness.
Looking ahead to the 2024-25 cycle, the Solutions Lab continues to build on its foundational mission. It serves as a beacon of collaboration and innovation, creating solutions tailored to the unique needs and challenges of migrant communities. Stay tuned for future updates on the Solutions Lab. The ongoing work and forthcoming projects promise to be a vital source of inspiration and support, contributing to a more compassionate and integrated approach to migration studies and services.
Ramya Ramanath: Delineating Pathways into Homelessness Among Forced Migrants: Lessons and Recommendations from a Multi-Country Implementation Analysis
Ramya Ramanath is Associate Professor at DePaul University's School of Public Service where she chairs its International Public Service degree program. Her research projects, primarily in India, the US, and East Africa, draw on disciplinary perspectives in organizational behavior, urban sociology, planning, anthropology, and political science. Her resulting publications have focused on interorganizational and organization-community relations in affordable housing, resettlement and rehabilitation, capacity building, program evaluation and gender-responsive policy and practice.
Her project with the DMC Solutions Lab Delineating Pathways into Homelessness Among Forced Migrants: Lessons and Recommendations from a Multi-Country Implementation Analysis, involves working with the Ruff Institute for Global Homelessness. Cities are paradoxical entities, both the sites of refuge and homecoming for displaced migrants and yet they are the very spaces where those forcibly displaced face the risk of double displacement i.e., the loss of both a home and a homeland. Forced migrants face challenges in accessing shelter. This project, conducted in partnership with the Ruff Institute of Global Homelessness, will examine the policies and practices that precipitate (or preclude) homelessness from the perspective of service providers, both governmental and nongovernmental, working with forced migrants in eight distinct cities across the globe. In doing so, it will inform policy and procedural change at a time when many cities are experiencing a mass influx of forcibly displaced migrants.
Lamont Black: Helping Migrants Overcome Hurdles Associated with Money and Remittances Using New Technologies
Dr. Lamont Black is an Associate Professor of Finance at DePaul’s Driehaus College of Business. His research and teaching focuses on the digital transformation of business with an emphasis on emerging technologies including AI and the metaverse. Dr. Black works at the intersection of innovation and social good to bring new ideas to challenging public issues.
His project with the DMC Solutions Lab, Helping Migrants Overcome Hurdles Associated with Money and Remittances Using New Technologies, addresses migrant finances from the perspective of money, savings, and remittances. In an increasingly digital world, it can be difficult for migrants to access financial networks and the associated fees are often
high. Working with community partners, Dr. Black will assess migrants’ financial hurdles and the potential for new technologies to provide better financial inclusion for this community.
Kate Cooper: Building a Resilient Volunteer Tutor Program to Serve Refugees, partners with FORA (Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America)
Kate Cooper (PhD, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign) is an assistant professor of communication studies in the College of Communication. Kate is primarily interested in nonprofit organizations and how they coordinate with other agencies in order to scale up their efforts. She has studied collaborative efforts in response to education, gender-based violence, refugees and migration, among other issues. She is the co-author of the book Networks for Social Impact (2022, Oxford University Press).
Dr. Cooper’s project, Building a Resilient Volunteer Tutor Program to Serve Refugees, partners with FORA (Forging Opportunities for Refugees in America) in order to create a mentorship and training program for volunteers.
Previous Projects
Kathleen Arnold. Ph.D. was a 2023-2024 Solutions Lab grantee. Dr. Arnold is a political theorist specializing in issues of statelessness, sovereignty, and inequality. She is the author of various articles, chapters, and books. Her project for the Solutions Lab involved working with the Resurrection Project (TRP) as her community partner, to produce targeted country reports to help with asylum applications. Working with a team of students, Dr. Arnold has accomplished creating resources and country conditions affidavits to support new arrivals to Chicago for over 10 countries including Afghanistan, Iran, Cameroon, Columbia, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mexico, Haiti and more.
Report Available Soon.