Fourth cohort of Projects for Progress recipients announced
The initiative, run out of the Office of Social Equity and Community, provides University funding up to $100,000 each to Penn teams taking on big social justice issues in the city.
The three recipient teams for 2024 include the West Philadelphia Sanctuary, CROPS for HEALING, and the Homeless Outreach Project: Penn’s Mobile Street Medicine Clinic.
“We celebrate the people throughout this University—undergrads, graduate and professional students, staff, and faculty—who care deeply about societal injustices, and are willing to pour themselves into solutions that aim to enhance lives and ease burdens here in the city of Philadelphia,” says The Rev. Charles “Chaz” Howard, who serves as Vice President for Social Equity and Community and as University Chaplain.
This year, the Office of SEC, which oversees P4P, received 15 applications from 61 Penn community members. P4P, says Nicole Maloy, who has overseen the program since its start, gives people a useful “seed,” in the form of support and funding, to thoughtfully move forward, and, in many instances, move more quickly than otherwise possible. In fact, one of the requirements is that award recipients begin embarking on their initiative within six months.
“Word is spreading about Projects for Progress, and it was inspiring to see such a strong group of applicants this year,” says Maloy, who serves as director of the Office of SEC. “P4P is a special opportunity for Penn community members with a passion for social equity to team up, hone an idea, flesh it out with a proposal, and bring it to life with funding.”
When the P4P committee considered proposals, which were due at the end of January, they asked: How is the project healing, relevant, unique, developed, and responsible stewardship?
This year’s Projects for Progress recipients include:
West Philadelphia Sanctuary
The West Philadelphia Sanctuary is a daytime gathering place for all West Philadelphians—especially socially at-risk and unhoused individuals—to gain respite in a safe, climate-controlled environment and access resources including a food cupboard and living supplies pantry. The team aims to reduce stigma, address loneliness, and create a generative space in which community members of all backgrounds can connect and engage with each other.
Aravind Krishnan,undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Wharton School, studying molecular and cell biology, health care management and policy, and statistics
Neha Shetty, undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences, studyinghealth and societies
Aurora Yuan, undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences studying neuroscience and chemistry
Roopali Kulkarni, assistant professor in the Department of Oral Medicine at Penn Dental Medicine
CROPS for HEALING
Black and Brown youth face rising racial discrimination that diminishes their emotional health and academic productivity, which can linger into adulthood. CROPS for HEALING uses racial literacy to protect youth from the harm of hate; prepare them to use their identity stories to confront dehumanization in relationships and schools; teach their peers; and improve their academic engagement and achievement.
Howard Stevenson, Constance E. Clayton Professor of Urban Education & Africana Studies at the School of Arts & Sciences
Sasha Mejia-Bradford,graduate student in the Graduate School of Education, studying interdisciplinary studies in human development
KJ Mosley,graduate student in the Graduate School of Education, studying interdisciplinary studies in human development
Jai Smith, undergraduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences studying psychology
Homeless Outreach Project: Penn’s Mobile Street Medicine Clinic
Homeless Outreach Project (HOP) addresses health determinants and disparities faced by people experiencing homelessness in Philadelphia by providing medical care, food, and social services in a street medicine setting. Projects for Progress funding will enhance HOP’s vision of serving this underserved population in partnership with community organizations, while educating and engaging future health care professionals in such interdisciplinary, structurally competent approaches.
Rashi Sabherwal, a doctoral student in political science, explores how women engage politically in society in informal roles through her research in India.
Applying design to agriculture for a new approach to agroforestry
Penn researchers are leading a multidisciplinary land-use project that blends trees, livestock, and streamside buffers to turn New Bolton Center into a living lab for stewardship agriculture.
Helping robots work together to explore the Moon and Mars
Penn Engineers, NASA, and five other universities tested robotic systems designed to help unmanned explorers cooperate in the dunes of White Sands, New Mexico, paving the way for Moon and Mars exploration.
