Ginsberg Match Provides Important Social Connections During Pandemic

From the Annual Report: Ginsberg Center’s partnership with the University of Michigan Public Design Corps (UM-PDC) offers a key example of how work shifted during this pandemic year. The summer program connects U-M students in Architecture, Urban Design, and Urban and Regional Planning with mission-driven organizations to tackle pressing economic, environmental, social, and spatial challenges that have been made more acute by the ongoing Covid-19 health crisis. Studentfaculty teams and community partners explore ways architecture, urban design, and planning tools can be used in community-focused, community-led projects.

UM-PDC is led by U-M faculty members Anya Sirota, Associate Dean for Academic Initiatives and Associate Professor of Architecture; María Arquero de Alarcón, Associate Professor of Architecture and Urban and Regional Planning; Irene Hwang, Assistant Chair of Architecture and Lecturer in Architecture; and Jacob Comerci, Academic Innovation Project Manager and Lecturer in Architecture.

In 2019, UM-PDC consulted Ginsberg for help identifying and matching with potential partners, as well as guidance on public engagement workshops and best practices. Student contributors participated in Ginsberg Center workshops to establish a foundational understanding of community engagement and codesign methods.

Last summer, Ginsberg paired UM-PDC with SAGE Metro Detroit, which provides services and advocacy for older LGBTQ+ adults. With shared storytelling an essential component of SAGE’s work in creating community and minimizing isolation, the pandemic provided a pressing challenge.

“The videos tell powerful stories about discrimination, racism, intersectionality, and hope. We need these conversations now more than ever, and this project brought these stories to life.”

Angie Perone, SAGE Executive Director

“SAGE offered Porch Talks and wanted to make them safe and continue during the pandemic so SAGE members wouldn’t feel isolated,” says Hwang. Working with UM-PDC allowed SAGE to brainstorm creative ways to safely support participants during Covid.

“We were able to gather critical stories and voices during a time when connection is especially important,” says Angie Perone, SAGE Executive Director. “Students interviewed LGBTQ+ older adults [about their coming out stories] and produced high-quality videos that we can archive in our records as well as use in upcoming virtual events and fundraising. We were especially impressed with the attention to detail, concern for the participants, and commitment to the project that each student brought.”

“The videos tell powerful stories about discrimination, racism, intersectionality, and hope,” Perone adds. “We need these conversations now more than ever, and this project brought these stories to life.”

Hwang notes that the partnership with Ginsberg doesn’t just provide benefits for the students and community partners involved—it also benefits U-M faculty: “The fieldwork, these particular delivery issues, developing a whole new co-curricular model—this hadn’t been done before at Taubman.”

She adds: “We learned so much from Ginsberg’s connections, resources, and models for building new relationships. Ginsberg is helping us be ambassadors for the community.”

Read more from our Annual Report here