Community Capacity

The Community Capacity (ComCap) Inventory Project was an inaugural project of the DMC in Fall 2022. Its leads, Prof. Chris Tirres and Dr. Olya Glantsmann, along with graduate assistants, Safa Assad, Chris Camilleri, Yesenia Garcia-Murillo and Wendy de los Reyes Moore, worked to hold focus groups and intensive discussions with community organizations in Chicago. They worked to identify the community groups’ assets, barriers that kept them from doing their work well, and possible points of collaboration with DMC. Working with eighteen different community organizations, the ComCap investigators looked at a number of factors, human, organizational, legal, technical and community support, in order to complete their report They identified a number of strengths, but also needs ranging from a lack of finances to rapid staff turnover, from language resources to a lack of space, from a need for mental health services to better technical coordination.  

In April 2022, the DePaul Migration Collaborative (DMC) held its first major summit titled “Strategies for a Migrant Planet.” Following the summit, a 40-page report was developed to summarize findings from five focus groups, representing eighteen different greater Chicago area community organizations working in the field of migration. 

The focus groups centered around three main themes: 1) the assets of the organization, 2) the barriers that impede them from reaching their fullest aspirations, and 3) possible points of collaboration with DePaul University.

People Involved

Olya Glantsman

Olya Glantsman

College of Science & Health

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Yesenia Garcia (She/Her/Ella)

Yesenia Garcia (She/Her/Ella)

Community Capacity Team

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Christopher Tirres

Christopher Tirres

College of Liberal Arts & Sciences

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Wendy de los Reyes Moore (She/Her/Ella)

Wendy de los Reyes Moore (She/Her/Ella)

Community Capacity Team

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Andrew Camilleri (He/Him)

Andrew Camilleri (He/Him)

Community Capacity Team

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Safa Asad (She/Her)

Safa Asad (She/Her)

Community Capacity Team

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More Projects

DePaul Migration Advocates

The DePaul Migration Advocates, a collaboration between the Colleges of Law (CoL) and Liberal Arts and Sciences (LAS), highlights DePaul’s legacy as an immigrant-serving institution through the work and impact of its alumni in migration, immigration, and human rights. Their contributions are showcased on DePaul’s website and other platforms 

 

 

 

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Community Capacity Project

The DMC’s Community Capacity Inventory, an interdisciplinary project from March to December 2022, assessed Chicago community organizations’ assets and needs. Led by Prof. Chris Tirres, Dr. Olya Glantsman, and graduate students, they engaged with 18 organizations, culminating in a report outlining potential collaboration areas including mental health support, student involvement, collaborative space, and addressing language and legal needs.

 

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Solutions Lab

The DMC Solutions lab is an ongoing project run by the DMC. The Solutions Lab supports interdisciplinary, community-engaged research projects aimed at directly addressing key challenges facing migrants in the United States and across the world. Successful projects will address critical areas of need as collaboratively identified by the scholars and community partner(s) on the project. The funding runs from June 15, 2023-June 15, 2024, though individual project timelines may vary.

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Reframing Refugees Project

In response to recent global policies limiting refugee and asylum-seeker protection, the Collaborative aims to influence policies by creating migrant support models aligned with international human rights standards. The objective is a nationally replicable model addressing migration realities, detailing asylum pursuit strategies, and fostering NGO engagement in individual case advocacy.

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