Research Projects

Poverty Center Seed Funding Grants

The Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity's Seed Funding Grants are a reflection of its commitment to public engagement. Intended to encourage interdisciplinary poverty-related research at the University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill, these grants offer short-term funding for researchers to develop innovative and applied research projects with community partners that lead to larger, sustained efforts.

More information on the Seed Funding Grants

Community Empowerment Fund

The Community Empowerment Fund (CEF), a collaboration between two student organizations and the Poverty Center, is a microfinance initiative that offers small loans, savings opportunities and financial services to qualified individuals who are homeless or at risk of experiencing homelessness. Loans are made to secure employment or housing, putting borrowers on the path to economic stability.

More information on CEF.

Graduate Student Working Group

The Graduate Student Working Group (GSWG) is an interdisciplinary network of masters and doctoral students brought together by a common interest in issues of work and the workforce.

Members of the GSWG meet monthly to discuss research, deliver presentations, get feedback from the group, share resources and information, and connect across disciplines. Members can also put their skills to use by volunteering on short-term projects with local non-profit organizations seeking assistance in data analysis, evaluations, grant writing and other activities.

More information on the Graduate Student Working Group

Student Research

The center works closely with students interested in poverty issues. Law students conduct legal and empirical research and help with the Center's activities.

More information on student research.

The New Orleans Recovery Initiative

The New Orleans Recovery Initiative (NORI) connected the university's expertise with efforts to rebuild the city after Katrina. Begun in spring 2007, NORI spanned over a year, involved numerous UNC faculty, staff and students, developed community and institutional partners in New Orleans, worked with neighborhood associations to assist in their regrowth, produced reports and maps, and has become an integral and ongoing part of the Center on Urban and Regional Studies at UNC.

More on the New Orleans Recovery Initiative