Notre Dame unifies, strengthens poverty fight with new initiative
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A new anti-poverty initiative launched at the University of Notre Dame with a $100 million gift from an alumni couple will look for new ways of thinking and talking about the issue.
“Notre Dame’s Poverty Initiative is driven by a moral imperative to prioritize the needs of the poor and vulnerable, rooted in Catholic social teaching” said Notre Dame economist Jim Sullivan, co-founder and director of the Wilson Sheehan Lab for Economic Opportunities. “It aims to reshape the study of poverty to promote more dignity-affirming approaches to poverty alleviation.”
Tracy Kijewski-Correa, director of the university’s Pulte Institute for Global Development, said the initiative is looking for new ways to manage the issue and express its impacts.
“Poverty is not just material deprivation,” she said. “It affects everything and every part of a person.”
The work and of the Sheehan Lab in the College of Arts and Letters along with Pulte Institute at the Keough School of Global Affairs is coming together to examine the issue at home and abroad.
“Poverty is complex and won’t be solved by just one sector, academic discipline, or university. The Poverty Initiative will unite research efforts across campus and across the globe,” said Sullivan, who is leading the initiative. “By working together, researchers with diverse perspectives and expertise can identify the most pressing issues confronting individuals living in poverty and develop innovative solutions that are responsive to real-world challenges.”
The initial area of concentration will be research to uncover the top roadblocks to mitigating poverty and what are the vital questions to root out the most insightful answers.
Kijewski-Correa said in order to delve into complex issues, you have to start with the right questions.
“You have to know the true questions to address poverty and the best evidence to guide programs and policies,” she said. “Sustained partnerships with organizations that have experiences on the ground help us know the right questions – the gaps and challenges -and be as close as possible to the real problems they are seeing.”
“In our work, we embrace the Catholic value of subsidiarity–the belief that those closest to a problem are best suited to solve it. That is why we conduct our research with on-the-ground service providers who know the needs of their communities best and who have the innovative ideas we can test to learn what is most effective,” Sullivan added. “These partnerships with service providers enable researchers to access data and insights from the field, ensuring that research findings are grounded in the realities of poverty alleviation efforts.”
To implement the research, it is best to work with boots-on-the-ground partners who already have established relationships, especially on the global scale, Kijewski-Correa said.
“You have to use real care when collecting data and designing the research with these partners in mind,” she said. “Without these sustainable partners, the likelihood that long-term changes will occur is almost zero.”
Research-based initiatives have already had an impact with partner organizations, including Goodwill Industries, Catholic Charities USA and Catholic Relief Services, Sullivan said.
The Sheehan Lab assisted with research that indicated the Goodwill Excel Center, a supportive school for adults to earn a high school diploma, bolstered earnings for graduates by 40 percent, even five years after graduation.
“The evidence has helped secure funding and expand Excel Centers to new regions,” Sullivan said.
Brian R. Corbin, executive vice president of member services for Catholic Charities USA, said the Catholic-focused process of “See, Judge, Act” helps fuse the work of scientists, theorists, economists and academia leaders for a true picture of reality.
The organization has a history of collaborating with colleges and universities as well as centering on the fight against poverty.
“We need to understand what is going on in the world by seeing, researching and reflecting,” he said. “Practitioners bring the insight we need. Practitioners are about action.
“We have a tradition of working with these incredible universities—both big and small—to be connected with knowledge at different levels that can help our organization take action—locally, regionally, nationally and at a global level.”
Corbin said focused studies and research are truly important to the fight against poverty.
“You have to know what works to help get people out of poverty and sharing knowledge with other agencies to expand or scale it. Knowing what is effective is an important contribution of these studies,” he said. “Part 2 is being able to bring that knowledge base to Washington and state capitals for funding considerations, changing regulations, policies or laws if they are in the way.”
Beyond research, the poverty initiative will center on student formation through curriculum development and experiential learning opportunities.
“Collaboration between faculty, students and community partners is also crucial for providing students with meaningful learning experiences in poverty-related topics. By engaging with service providers and practitioners, students gain first-hand exposure to the complexities of poverty and the various approaches to addressing it,” Sullivan said.
The third focused area of the initiative is creating actionable agenda items based on research and data.
“We do this by working with government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropists to replicate proven programs, influence policies and mobilize resources,” Sullivan said.
He said the hope is to see concrete changes in policies, programs and practices that lead to measurable improvements in the lives of individuals and communities affected by poverty, as stakeholders take action and invest in evidence-based solutions.
“Our ultimate goal is to break the vicious cycle of poverty and create lasting change for individuals and communities around the world,” he added. “By leveraging our research and partnerships, we can create real change and break the cycle of poverty for generations to come.”
With more than 700 million people living in poverty worldwide, Kijewski-Correa hopes that conversations surrounding poverty go beyond just numbers and phrases, such as “living below the poverty line.” On the international front, her team works with 70 countries and some of the most impoverished conditions and environments around the world.
“Poverty is pervasive and leaves scars. It affects an individual’s health, educational opportunities, mental health and more,” she said.
“The challenge is to help people flourish and not based on any amount of money according to our calculations or just having their needs met,” she added. “We should not reduce people to numbers and dollar signs but help them have the confidence to live the life of their dreams.”