Rakira Urquhart
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers
UROP Fellowship: Detroit Community-Engaged Research Program
Research Mentor(s): Zachary Rowe, Star Garner
Friends of Parkside
Presentation Date: Wednesday, July 29, 2020 | DCERP Showcase
Authors: Rakira Urquhart
Abstract
Hello, my name is Rakira Urquhart, my pronouns are she/her. I’m a sophomore, majoring in Public Health and minoring in DAAS. I worked with Friends of Parkside which is dedicated to bettering the lives of residents of The Villages at Parkside on the Eastside of Detroit. They work towards maintaining a healthy, safe, and well-informed community and that community members are heard and their needs are met. I evaluated the impact of the Dear Santa Program on Parkside residents. Since 1993 this program has made the holiday season less stressful and more enjoyable for Parkside families. To measure its long and short term impact, I recruited an advisory committee, personally called participants of the program, and used their experiences and feedback to develop ideas for further extending the influence of the program years after residents and their children have participated. To say that the last 9 weeks have been stressful would be an understatement. The weekly Parkside Resource Connection Committee meetings helped keep me motivated through everything that was going on. Parkside community members are committed to bettering their community for themselves and others and seeing this encouraged me to work harder. Although DCERP is winding down, I’m excited I’ll be able to continue working with the community for a few more months as a research assistant with one of Friends of Parkside partners (Poverty Solutions).
Research Disciplines
Social Sciences, Community-Engaged, Humanities
