2021-2022 LOYOLA ANCHORS COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT OFFICE OF NEIGHBORHOOD INITIATIVES P 773-508-7450 • E [email protected] • W luc.edu/neighborhood SERVE BUILD HEAL CURL EQUITY RESEARCH AND LEARNING CENTER FOR URBAN VIOLENCE PREVENTION EDUCATE ANTI-RACISM WHITE COATS/BLACK LIVES HEALTH UNITY AND FAMILY SERVICES RESEARCH ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY CAMPUS GREEN SERVICE LEARNING ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT LEED CERTIFIED LOYOLA COMM HEAL LUC SCHOOL PARTNERS PARK ROGERS PLAZA JEAN SISTER SUPPORT AFFORDABLE HOUSING HIGHLIGHTING LOYOLA UNIVERSITY’S CONTRIBUTION TO CHICAGOLAND EXCELLENCE WITH A PURPOSE
TOTAL ENROLLMENT (UNDERGRADUATE AND GRADUATE) 16,899 98.6% AVERAGE FINANCIAL AID AWARD $32,400 $116,483,151 SCHOLARSHIP DOLLARS TO FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENTS AND STUDENTS OF COLOR 4,000+ FACULTY AND STAFF INCOMING FRESHMEN RECEIVING GRANTS AND/OR SCHOLARSHIPS 2021-2022 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT 1 W e are pleased to share The Loyola Anchors Civic Impact Report 2021-2022 documenting the scale and impact of the University’s engagement with its community. Shaped by our Jesuit, Catholic traditions and a diligent work ethic, Loyolans from all faiths and backgrounds unite in serving the greater good: educating young people, extending knowledge, preparing next-generation leaders, and improving communities. The story of Loyola and the story of Chicago are intertwined. For 152 years, Loyola has educated generations of leaders across many fields. Today, in hundreds of community partnerships, Loyola faculty, students, and staff address pressing community needs and enhance the lives of individuals and families. Chicago has become an international center of commerce, education, and culture, and as Loyola has grown into one of the largest Catholic research universities in the nation, we remain focused on our city and our role as an anchor of the regional economy. At Loyola, we strive for educational excellence with a purpose. We are called to make a difference as persons for others. That work is deeply grounded here, in the community we call home. L MARK C. REED EdD LOYOLA FACTS AT A GLANCE FROM THE PRESIDENT STRENGTHENING OUR CITY.
2 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO W e are called. Called to be educators and advocates, problem solvers and caregivers and empathetic, purpose-driven souls. And as Chicago’s Jesuit, Catholic University—a diverse community seeking God in all things and working to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith—we answer those calls. The Loyola Anchors Community Impact Report 2021-2022 reflects our values and our mission to care for others and our world, to engage with our neighbors, and to take thoughtful, inspired action on in terconnected issues of social, health, eco nomic, and environmental justice. Through educational outreach, service learning, volunteerism, human-centered programs, and community-based aca - demic research, the Loyola community serves the City of Chicago and neighboring suburban communities like Maywood, the home of our Health Sciences Campus. We take deliberate action to care for others, including our area’s most vulnerable, and foster healthier lives. We tackle societal questions to advance justice, inclusion, inform policy, and facilitate a more connected, responsive world. We live our calling as a university and apostolic work of the Society of Jesus for the greater glory of God. As a university rooted in an urban center, Loyola University Chicago responds to the rela - tionships be tween reason and faith, faith and culture. L WE ANCHOR 6,719 STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN ENGAGED LEARNING COURSES 1,495 STUDENTS COMPLETED ACADEMIC INTERNSHIPS, PROVIDING 179,400 HOURS OF LABOR HOURS OF WORKING AND LEARNING IN THE COMMUNITY 583 91,000+ ENGAGED LEARNING COURSES OFFERED SUMMER 2021- SPRING 2022 2,386 INTERNSHIP HOURS COMPLETED BY 11 SOCIAL JUSTICE INTERNSHIP PARTICIPANTS 2,541 STUDENTS PARTICIPATED IN SERVICE-LEARNING COURSES ACROSS 30 DEPARTMENTS DRIVEN BY FAITH. COMMITTED TO ACTION. 20 STUDENTS AWARDED $1,500 ASPIRE SCHOLARSHIPS 26 STUDENTS AWARDED $1,500 MELLON SCHOLARSHIPS 13 STUDENTS AWARDED $4,000 SOCIAL JUSTICE INTERNSHIP SCHOLARSHIPS 173 RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES PROGRAM FELLOWSHIPS AWARDED $489,000 $610,000+ SUPPORT FOR STUDENT RESEARCH AND ACADEMIC INTERNSHIPS 800+ COMMUNITY PARTNERS SUPPORTED CARE FOR REAL CHICAGOLAND METHODIST SENIOR SERVICES CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOLS CHRIST THE KING JESUIT COLLEGE PREP GIRLFORWARD MAYWOOD FINE ARTS MISERICORDIA NOURISHING HOPE/LAKEVIEW PANTRY PAWS CHICAGO PROVISO TOWNSHIP SCHOOLS UPWARDLY GLOBAL INTERNSHIP SUPPORT ““ Our overall experience with Loyola interns and volunteers is that they are smart, motivated, and interested. They bring new ideas and (especially needed) technical skills to our organization and help us increase our outreach and services.” —CHRISTINA VERDIRAME, CIPOLLA LAW GROUP
2021-2022 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT 5 WE EDUCATE E ducation remains a core pillar of the Loyola University Chicago mission, the fuel driving our growth to three Chicago-area campuses over our 152- year history. Through learning, engagement, and faith, we expand our students’ horizons. We help learners realize new talents and inspire them to pursue their passions. This mission extends beyond our campuses, though, reaching into neighboring communities and beyond, where our presence—as educators, as volunteers, as partners—energizes individuals and spurs discovery and growth. Arrupe College: Unlocking opportunity Built on the idea that college success should be achievable, accessible, and affordable, Loyola University Chicago launched Arrupe College in 2015 to de liver a rigorous liberal arts education to motivated students with limited financial resources and an interest in attending a four-year institution. Arrupe College—a name honoring Father Pedro Arrupe, S.J., a Spanish Basque Jesuit who dedicated his life to serving marginalized populations, is a novel two-year associate’s degree program housed at Loyola’s Water Tower Campus. Arrupe provides first generation college students, 83 percent of whom live in Chicago, intensive faculty support alongside targeted academic, social, and financial assistance. Through fundraising, grants, and financial aid, the annual family cost of attending Arrupe hovers 5 Left: Arrupe Professor Michael Nguyen leads an outdoor lab where students identify tree species. EDUCATING TO EMPOWER.
6 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO 2021-2022 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT 7 75% LATINX 15% BLACK/AFRICAN AMERICAN 7% ASIAN 2% MULTI-RACE 1% WHITE 13% UNDOCUMENTED around $2,000, while students also receive a laptop computer, free breakfast and lunch on school days, and an unlimited CTA pass for transportation. Arrupe’s first class graduated in 2017 with associate’s degrees. Two years later, nearly half of Arrupe’s inaugural alumni class had earned their bachelor’s degree. In total, more than 80 percent of Arrupe alumni who pursue a bachelor’s degree graduate within five years, a mark three times greater than the national average for low-income transfer students. Partnering to increase college access In June 2022, Loyola University Chicago joined the Hope Chicago partnership, an innovative two-generation scholarship program granting college and vocational scholarships to both Chicago Public School (CPS) students and their parents. Hope’s first cohort includes five partner CPS high schools spread across the city’s South, Southwest, and West Sides and offers every enrolled student the opportunity to attend one of 23 in-network institutions debt-free, including both Loyola University and Arrupe College. Working beyond school hours Loyola University Chicago operates before-school, after-school, and out-ofschool programs at eight local public schools. These efforts, part of the $1 million Loyola committed to CPS programming during fiscal year 2021, impact more than 4,000 individual children each year. At nearby Roger C. Sullivan High School, Loyola University School Partners provided curriculum support and helped to shepherd 23 out-of-school programs, including Girls Who Code, Poetry Club, Rock Band, Student Council, and Rainbow Gems. Loyola also brings free SAT and ACT preparation to 12 Chicago public high schools through Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs (GEAR-UP), a U.S. Department of Education grant-funded program increasing the number of low-income students entering and succeeding in postsecondary education. Enlivening early childhood education Since 1994, Loyola University Preschool has been providing tuition-based, early childhood education for children between the ages of 2-4. Located on the first floor of the Lake Shore Campus’ Doyle Center, the preschool offers young children a safe and secure space for learning, including specially designed classrooms and an enclosed outdoor play area. In addition, the preschool uses the green spaces, campus, and gymnasiums of the Lake Shore Campus to provide its students lively, dynamic environments to explore and excite. Increasing student access at Loyola University Chicago Access to postsecondary education has long been an issue for low-income students, first generation college students, and students of color. Loyola University Chicago combatted that by offering $258 million in institutional need-based financial assistance, scholarships, and grant aid during fiscal year 2022. In June 2022, Loyola also received the largest donation in its 152-year history: a transformational $100 million gift from 1968 alumnus John Schreiber and his wife, Kathy, to fund full scholarships, room and board, and various support services for students historically underrepresented in higher educaWE EDUCATE continued 2022 PARTNER SCHOOLS JOYCE KILMER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 742 STUDENTS ROGER C. MCCUTCHEON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 304 STUDENTS ROGER SULLIVAN HIGH SCHOOL 661 STUDENTS NEW FIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL 515 STUDENTS DEWITT CLINTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 1,005 STUDENTS EUGENE FIELD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 148 STUDENTS STEPHEN F. GALE ELEMENTARY COMMUNITY ACADEMY 215 STUDENTS JORDAN ELEMENTARY COMMUNITY SCHOOL 499 STUDENTS 4,089 TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS SUPPORTED BY SCHOOLS 2022 308 ADMITTED STUDENTS 195 DEPOSITED STUDENTS FROM 57 ZIP CODES AVERAGE HIGH SCHOOL GPA: 3.17 55% FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS 4% FROM CHARTER SCHOOLS 21% FROM PRIVATE/CATHOLIC SCHOOLS 63% FEMALE FALL 2022 ARRUPE COLLEGE ENROLLEES A CLOSER LOOK AT ARRUPE STUDENTS 100 % RECEIVE FINANCIAL AID 96% IDENTIFY AS PERSONS OF COLOR 87% ELIGIBLE FOR PELL GRANTS 85 % ATTENDED A CHICAGO PUBLIC SCHOOL 77% GRADUATE WITHOUT DEBT 68% FIRST GENERATION COLLEGE STUDENT Arrupe students graduate in 2022 with two-year associate’s degrees. Students at Arrupe are engaged and supported in the classroom with added programs and services. tion. Loyola’s Board of Trustees then pledged to raise an additional $400 million to make the resources generated by the Schreibers’ gift permanent. The collective effort promises to improve college access for generations to come and empower student success at neverbefore-seen levels. Advancing literacy in math and science The Center for Math and Science Education develops partnerships and programs and conducts research that focuses on developing teachers and educational leaders with an understanding of how to implement high-quality instruction that enhances scientific and mathematical literacy. Such literacy is essential to decision-making that fosters a just society and a healthy planet. The Center maintains partnerships with the following organizations: • Archdiocese of Chicago • Chicago Public School’s Amplify Science Model Schools • Chicago Public School’s Science Master • Teacher Leader Cohort (Gates Foundation) • HS Science Support (Big Shoulders Fund) • Niles Township High School and Feeder Districts • Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program • Rich Township High School Math Partnership Building more inclusive Catholic schools On October 10-11, 2022, Loyola University Chicago’s Andrew M. Greeley Center for Catholic Education hosted the latest edition of The Mustard Seed Project, an annual conference bringing together Catholic school administrators, teachers, and support staff from around the country. The 2022 conference, titled “Answering the Call— Increasing Access for Each Learner,” highlighted methods, strategies, and innovative systems to ensure access to learning for every student in inclusive and equitable Catholic schools. L
2021-2022 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT 9 D espite the still-lingering effects of a global health pandemic that rattled health care systems and disrupted daily lives, members of the Loyola University Chicago community continued activating efforts to heal, connect, and support. With compassion and selflessness, a service-minded ethos, and a commitment to helping others lead their best lives, we pushed for a more equitable world, tended to our most vulnerable neighbors, and advocated for inclusion, safety, and fairness. Loyola medical students rally for Black lives As the lead organizer for the White Coats for Black Lives photo collage project at Loyola University Chicago’s Stritch School of Medicine, Jessica Simpson ’23 confesses she cried as photos from colleagues— nearly 300—passed before her eyes. At times throughout her training, Simpson admits she “felt alone, unseen, unheard, and anxious.” She questioned if she belonged at Stritch. She danced around topics of social justice and implicit WE HEAL STRIVING FOR A HEALTHIER WORLD—IN BODY, MIND, AND SPIRIT. Left: Stritch students stand in solidarity to support healthy Black communities.
10 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO 2021-2022 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT 11 WE HEAL continued biases. With one photo after another of a white-coated peer holding a handmade sign reading “White Coats for Black Lives,” however, Simpson learned the Stritch community stood determined to show solidarity with Black lives and demand change for a healthier Black community. “This movement of finally recognizing that racism is a public health crisis gives me hope that at Stritch we can and will respond to the call,” Simpson says. Launched in 2015, White Coats for Black Lives is a national student-run ini - tiative seeking to eliminate racism in the practice of medicine. Simpson founded Loyola’s chapter in July 2020. The stu - dent-led effort stands against racism to improve the health of the Black commu - nity and recognizes the power physicians, as well as medical trainees, hold to drive social progress for those most affected by racism and poor health outcomes. At Stritch, White Coats for Black Lives aims to foster crucial conversations on racism as a public health crisis, end racial discrimination and implicit bias in the practice of medicine, and prepare future physicians to be lights for racial justice and health equity. Loyola leads discussion on violence prevention On April 6, 2022, Loyola University Chicago hosted the 3rd Annual Community Advocacy and Violence Prevention Summit at its Health Sciences Campus in Maywood. The half-day event featured firsthand accounts of trauma brought upon by gun violence, a review of the current state of gun policy, a workshop on safety and violence prevention in Proviso Township, and a stirring keynote from Fred Guttenberg, whose 14-yearold daughter, Jaime, was killed in the Parkland, Florida, school shooting on Valentine’s Day in 2018. Trauma Training to ‘Stop the Bleed’ Loyola Stands Against Gun Violence partners with Trinity Hospital and the Loyola University Medical Center Trauma Division to host free Stop the Bleed courses as well as instructor training for residents of Maywood and surrounding communities. Stop the Bleed courses train, equip, and empower bystanders to help in a bleeding emergency before pro - fessional help arrives. Addressing the legal and social needs of vulnerable populations After launching a screening tool to identify individual community member’s social and legal needs in the earliest weeks of the COVID-19 pandemic, Loyola’s Health Justice Project (HJP) continued its work supporting at-risk populations throughout 2021 and into 2022. In particular, HJP, a collective of Loyola students and faculty from law, social work, public health, and medicine, partnered with Erie Family Health Centers to bring pro bono legal and social services to vulnerable residents on Chicago’s West and North Sides. In collaboration with Loyola Medicine and the Stritch School of Medicine, the HJP also extended its reach into the nearby western suburbs with the Maywood Medical-Legal Partnership. In total, 60 families received services at seven partner sites in 2021-2022. Bringing health care to homebound and economically challenged patients The pandemic highlighted—and in some cases, exacerbated—existing health disparities. Loyola’s Community Nursing Center program continues battling such inequities in the culturally and economi - cally diverse Rogers Park, Edgewater, and Uptown neighborhoods. Every semester, 40 nursing students tend to homebound patients who could otherwise not afford home health care. At no cost to the patient, the students make multiple home visits each week to help patients manage health conditions. Students also monitor their assigned patients’ general health, housing situa - tion, and mobility and coordinate referrals to government or community resources as necessary. An ally for children’s mental health needs With the pandemic prompting a rise in anxiety rates and trauma, diminished social skills, and other mental health issues among youth, the work of Loyola Community and Family Services (LCFS) has emerged a more critical resource for children and families in Chicago’s Rogers Park and Edgewater neighborhoods. A community mental health agency, LCFS provides counseling services, psy - chological assessments, case management services, and psychoeducational services to help local families find improved wellness and balance. LCFS, which offers English and Spanish-language services, operates on a sliding fee scale in which clients pay based on their family size and income. L As future providers, we must recognize this phrase (Black lives matter) as just the basic start. Let’s look beyond the statistics, let’s look beyond the implicit biases, and let us start doing the work, all of us, to learn and unlearn what we have been taught about Black lives.” —DR. AYOMIDE ADELEYE, CLASS OF 2021 “ Left: Students engage in lectures at the Stritch School of Medicine. Below: Excited Stritch students learn where they will spend the next 3-7 years in medical training on “Match Day.”
2021-2022 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT 13 WE BUILD Left: The rain garden fronting the School of Environmental Sustainability helps to absorb excess rainwater, alleviating local flooding near Chicago’s far north shoreline. I n an era in which so many try to tear things down, whether ideas or individuals, ambitions or infrastructure, we embrace our call to be builders—of communities, of dreams, of the physical spaces we inhabit and gather. We contribute to the vitality of our city with dynamic spaces designed to stir connections and engagement with the environment around us. We support and empower entrepreneurs. And we remain responsible stewards of the Earth, mindful of the resources we use and the ways in which we might help stimulate a brighter future for our planet and our world’s citizens. Prioritizing sustainability at Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago can confidently list itself among the greenest institutions in American higher education. The University boasts 13 LEED Silver or Gold-rated buildings and more than 84,000 square feet of green roofs—more than any other college in the Midwest— across its campuses. There are rain gardens and stormwater treatment systems to protect water quality in area waterways, intercampus shuttle buses powered by biodiesel fuel to reduce reliance on plan - et-harming fossil fuels, and geothermal heating and cooling infrastructure to minimize greenhouse gas emissions. Embracing sustainability as an important value in support of Loyola’s social justice mission, the University protects CONTRIBUTING TO A LIVELY CITY AND A MORE SUSTAINABLE WORLD.
14 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO 2021-2022 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT 15 and conserves resources across its campuses. The School of Environmental Sustainability’s Ecodome, for example, captures rainwater and diverts it to a 3,000-gallon cistern, where the water is stored until it is used to irrigate plants that grow in the building. The 10-story glass atrium at the Water Tower Campus’ Schreiber Center, meanwhile, uses natural lighting and a natural ventilation system that pulls cool air through the building. Despite significant physical expansion over the last 14 years, per-capita energy use at Loyola has dropped more than 50 percent since 2008 and carbon emissions at Loyola have fallen more than 70 percent in that same time frame. The falling energy use results in positive gains for the planet and its inhabitants, as reduced greenhouse gas emissions curb outdoor air pollution, improve human health, and drive a more robust economy. In addition, Loyola is on track to be carbon neutral by 2025. This means that by 2025, Loyola will decrease its carbon footprint until there is a net-zero release of carbon into the Earth’s atmosphere. By cutting greenhouse gas emissions as close to zero as possible, Loyola helps avert the worst impacts of climate change and is doing its part to preserve a livable planet. Creating vibrant public spaces Loyola University Chicago continues investing in physical environments prom - ising to enhance quality of life, foster com - munity, and honor the University’s sus - tainable ethos. When Loyola expanded its Lake Shore Campus to the south, it closed the entire 6300 block of North Kenmore Avenue to car traffic and unveiled the St. Ignatius Community Plaza. While already claiming an expansive stormwater management system featuring permeable WE BUILD continued Above: Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM, cuts the ribbon at the public plaza named in her honor near the Loyola Station on the CTA Red Line. Top right: Environmental engineering students install air quality monitors near the Hegewisch neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. Bottom right: Air quality monitors are connected to a nationwide network of monitors to help researchers collect air quality data. pavers and native plantings, the University also created a new pedestrian “woonerf”— a people-friendly open space—with public access for bicycles and green play space. Meanwhile, $10 million in infrastructure improvements to the Loyola Station CTA Plaza—renamed the Sister Jean Dolores Schmidt, BVM, Plaza in August 2022 to honor the birthday of Loyola’s 103-year-old ambassador—has created a welcoming public plaza complete with new hard - scape, landscape, and seating options. Promoting economic development An advocate for entrepreneurship and its role in creating lively communities, Loyola University Chicago has prioritized eco - nomic development initiatives around its Lake Shore and Water Tower campuses. The University, in fact, manages 32 retail storefronts, half of which are leased to independent, local entrepreneurs. In pan - demic-stricken 2020 and into 2021, Loyola provided $1 million in rent forgiveness to retail tenants, while it also offered $11,000 in free on-campus advertising to small, independent businesses located near its two Chicago campuses. Collaborating to enliven Devon Avenue In 2022, Loyola co-funded a $30,000 commercial corridor study for West Devon Avenue with two longtime community partners, the Edgewater Chamber of Commerce and the Rogers Park Business Alliance. The study invited broad-based community partic - ipation to inform the development of the North Side street that serves as both the main entry to Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus from O’Hare Airport as well as the dividing line between the Edgewater and Rogers Park neighborhoods. The Elevate Devon Plan, which represents the interests of 7,200 website viewers, 2,800 comments on an interactive web-based map, and 1,200 individual participants to direct polling, lays the groundwork for improvements to the Devon Avenue streetscape to ensure pedestrian safety, bike connectivity, and business vitality. L Above: An Environmental Science student in the STEP Program (Solutions to Environmental Problems) investigates the potential of microgreens. Bottom: Students do restoration work on the rain garden near the School of Environmental Sustainability on the Lake Shore Campus.
2021-2022 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT 17 Above: Students engage in service projects at multiple locations throughout Chicago. WE SERVE WE HEAL I n accordance with our mission, Loyola University Chicago and members of our community embrace opportunities to serve others and enhance lives. Loyola students volunteer across the Chicagoland, working with children, immigrants, individuals with mental disabilities, and those experiencing homelessness. In fiscal year 2021, meanwhile, Loyola donated more than $135,000 to local nonprofits, while also providing campus space valued at $35,000 for community events. Prioritizing action Each academic year, approximately 300 Loyola students participate in Loyola4Chicago, a community service and action program that includes weekly volunteer service throughout the academic year. Activities include mentorship through Big Brothers Big Sisters, providing after-school tutoring at Centro Romero, and meal preparation at Sarah’s Circle, a Chicago-based non-profit tackling homelessness among women. An ongoing commitment to community service On August 27, 2022, nearly 200 members of the Class of 2026 gathered for the 2022 edition of Saturday of Service. Participants dispersed to a dozen sites across Chicago—the Howard Area Community Center, the Chicago Friends School, and the 49th Ward Office among them—and completed an array of projects designed to invigorate the community. And on September 10, some 100 first-year medical students from Loyola volunteered at 10 partner sites across the Village of Maywood for the 2022 Health Sciences Campus Ignatian Day of Service. L Left: Students volunteer for the Saturday of Service event at the Chicago Friends School in Edgewater. WILLING SERVANTS TO THE WORLD. When neighborhood residents host guests or family gatherings, they can obtain free parking passes to garages on Loyola’s Lake Shore Campus. Neighborhood residents and their guests can also enjoy complimentary parking Sundays on the Lake Shore Campus. In addition, Loyola’s five academic libraries spread across the Lake Shore, Water Tower, and Health Sciences campuses are free and open to the public. The Lake Shore Campus’ Information Commons— recognized as one of the most stunning university libraries in the world by Architectural Digest in 2022—welcomes local residents to visit, sip a coffee, and catch up on some reading. L A FRIENDLY NEIGHBOR
2021-2022 COMMUNITY IMPACT REPORT 19 WE RESEARCH K nowledge is power, the key to building stronger communities, enhancing quality of life, and pursuing a more just world. Embracing our research mission—to expand knowledge in the service of humanity through learning, justice, and faith—we are focused on inspired discovery and addressing critical questions in an ever-evolving society. Collaborative and committed, Loyola research - ers are uncovering new ways to support families, prompt more inclusive community development, and inform policy. It is work with the power to transform lives and enrich communities. Understanding the fine line between urban greening and displacement Can sustainable urban development— new trails, playgrounds, and parks designed to repurpose disused land and reduce pollution burdens—be achieved without triggering the gentrification that drives up housing costs, displaces resi - dents, and, ultimately, elevates racial and class inequalities? That’s the layered, complex, and unde - niably relevant question Loyola University Chicago researchers Tania Schusler and Amy Krings have been exploring over recent years. An inquiry ignited by heralded projects like The 606 in Chicago and the High Line in New York City as well as an earnest desire to see current residents reap the benefits of such extensive environmental investment, Schusler and Krings have investigated the concept of environmental gentrification in ways big and small. They executed a scholarly review of existing Left: Tania M. Schusler, PhD, Advanced Lecturer, stands at the proposed site for the El Paseo Trail in Pilsen. DEVELOPING KNOWLEDGE TO IMPROVE SOCIETY.
20 LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO literature, conducted dozens of interviews with on-the-ground residents, and engaged in thoughtful collaboration with Chicago-based community organizations like the Little Village Environmental Justice Organization. Noble as projects such as The 606 and the High Line might have been, their development came at a cost, the Loyola researchers suggest. Specifically, each project brought significant gentrifica - tion to their particular patch of urban America. Schusler, an assistant profes - sor at Loyola’s School of Environmental Sustainability, and Krings, an assistant professor at Loyola’s School of Social Work, see better ways to green up a city without displacing legacy residents. They advocate for a more community-centric approach rooted in earnest collaboration with local stakeholders and, in many cases, more modest or gradual improve - ments balancing a project’s environmen - tal and aesthetic objectives with a healthy respect for local residents’ own longstand - ing investment in their neighborhood. Such approaches, the Loyola researchers contend, will result in more equitable investment and ensure affordability and quality of life remain within reach for every resident. Loyola University Chicago’s Center for Urban Research and Learning (CURL) is one of many units connecting Loyola University research resources to local community efforts. For example: • CREATING SAFETY FOR FAMILIES IMPACTED BY DOMESTIC VIOLENCE In 2022, CURL launched the Justice for Families Project, a three-year collaboration with the Circuit Court of Cook County and Loyola’s School of Social Work and School of Law to increase safety for families impacted by domestic violence. The mul - tifaceted effort includes the creation of a University-based supervised visitation center as well as the provision of legal information for families to improve the ability of Cook County’s Domestic Violence Courts to pro - vide and coordinate efforts with social and health services . • IDENTIFYING THE RIGHT RESOURCES FOR FAMILIES AND CHILDREN A joint research partnership between CURL and the Business and Professional WE RESEARCH continued Across many schools, campuses, and programs, we support the growth of our students to become persons for others. In our daily work, we strengthen our host communities through listening and working collaboratively to address the most critical needs for improved quality of life and sustainable, equitable growth for all residents. We do this for the greater glory of God. AD MAJOREM DEI GLORIAM. People for the Public Interest (BPI), a Chicago-based law and policy center, com - missioned the Two-Generation Housing and Neighborhood Study. The report examines the experiences of adults and children in low-income households who have moved into low-poverty, resourcerich communities in the Chicago area. Researchers hope to understand the overall experiences of these families and identify thoughtful policy interventions and supports capable of driving further improvements. • EVALUATING A NOVEL EFFORT TO ATTACK CHRONIC HOMELESSNESS The Flexible Housing Pool (FHP), an enterprising effort coordinated by the Chicago Center for Housing and Health, aims to reduce the use of emergency services and hospitalizations by connecting people to stable housing and supportive services to improve their health and quality of life. Alongside the Center for Health Equity and Innovation and Cook County Health, CURL is leading an evaluation of FHP. In analyz - ing FHP’s activities and implementation, CURL researchers will be able to inform the program’s evolution and craft a more responsive, relevant program for partici - pants present and future. • ASSESSING EFFORTS TO ENSURE A MORE EQUITABLE ECONOMY IN CHICAGO The pandemic deepened the economic divide between Chicago’s white com - munities and the city’s communities of color. The Chicago Community Trust’s We Rise Together Initiative (WRT) seeks to reverse this trend through targeted investments, inclusive employment support, and public policy development supporting these efforts. CURL is partnering with colleagues from the Institute for Racial Justice and the Quinlan School of Business to conduct a multi-year, mixed-methods evaluation of WRT to understand the initiative’s reach and to monitor its drive to ensure an equitable economy for all Chicagoans. L Is it necessary for there to be hazards “in a community for it to be affordable?” —AMY KRINGS, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY CHICAGO SCHOOL OF SOCIAL WORK Chicago’s Bloomingdale Trail, the “606”, a converted elevated trail line running for three miles through Chicago’s northwest side. PRINTED BY SUNRISE HITEK