Health and Human Services Chair in Legacy Magazine: A Marginalized Motor City

JULIE RODDY AND PAUL DRAUS KNOW their way around metropolitan Detroit.The University of Michigan-Dearborn professors walk through neighborhoods to speak with Detroiters about the rise of urban agriculture and whether farming can boost the city’s economy.

They talk with locals about the health consequences of medical marijuana.They establish relationships with southeast Michigan residents to discuss what factors led to the region’s rapid depopulation.

And they visit jails and substance abuse treatment centers to interview former street sex workers about the arduous recovery process these women face.Many of the research projects that Roddy and Draus have launched in recent years involve some of the region’s most vulnerable residents. Their efforts have highlighted the perspectives of people who often are ignored.

“We work with marginalized individuals who are most at risk,” said Roddy, chair of the College of Education, Health, and Human Services’ Department of Health and Human Services. “We target people who live in neighborhoods where they’re overexposed to the lures of drugs and illicit employment. Nobody aspires to grow up and live these sorts of lifestyles, but when it’s all around you, you’ve got to make a living somehow.”

One of the major factors impeding Detroit’s comeback is blight. Streets are littered with abandoned homes, while overgrown vegetation shrouds vacant lots with inoperable streetlights.A popular solution is urban agriculture. Many vacant lots in Detroit have been transformed into farms in recent years, so Roddy and Draus visited local neighborhoods to ask residents about the ongoing agricultural uptick and its potential economic impact.

“I think it’s a great idea,” said Ronald, a local pastor who remains optimistic about Detroit’s comeback. “I believe that farming is one of the foundations of a community where everybody works to grow, maintain and then reap the benefits of a community garden. I don’t think you can go wrong.”Roddy and Draus also interviewed 100 street workers throughout Detroit to learn why these women turned to a life of prostitution. They followed many of these women from the time they were arrested through drug court and treatment.

“In Detroit, you see a lot of social exclusion,” said Draus, director of public policy and public administration at UM-Dearborn. “Our focus is on how the routes or trails to recovery help people transition from marginality to the mainstream.”

Read full Legacy Issue Here