Engagement & Understanding

Strategic Priority 4: Engage and communicate more effectively with the University, west side neighborhoods, and broader audiences in ways that increase understanding, encourage participation, and influence the work of others who could learn from UNP and its partners.

Storytelling: Engage partners in sharing their stories of partnership work, impact, and the life of west side neighborhoods.

Campus Engagement: Increase engagement and presence on campus, while improving the University’s understanding of UNP and the partnerships it supports.

Sharing Knowledge: Disseminate knowledge from the work of UNP, and the partnerships it supports, through academic and practice-oriented outlets at the local, state, and national level.

Communication: Establish consistent, authentic messaging and communication techniques that speak to UNP’s diverse audiences and stakeholders.

Key Indicator: # of outlets and products through which UNP-supported partnerships share knowledge and stories.

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Mental Health for Salt Lake

By RyLee Curtis, Director of Community Engagement, University of Utah Health

University of Utah and University of Utah Health are concurrently undergoing a Strategy Refresh Process. Together as One U we serve communities and the region, lead education and discovery, and innovate care, all while being accountable for outcomes. We believe that communities, partners, and people make us who we are, and we are fully invested in their health, wellness and success.

As we are going through our strategy refresh, we have observed senseless killings of black men and women across our nation and we are living through the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, which has had a disproportionate impact on people of color—further highlighting health inequities that have always existed but may not have been top of mind for many.

University of Utah Health is committed to addressing racism to reduce inequities. Our vision is to actively value equity, diversity, and inclusion and see the reflection and impact of these values at all levels of the organization—by recruiting and retaining diverse faculty, trainees, students, and employees. We are also striving to ensure that Utahns who seek care from University of Utah Health have easy and direct access to our services and are working to improve access to foundational health resources in languages other than English.

None of these goals can be met without community partnerships. An example of how we are forging partnerships is our Mental Health for Salt Lake (MH4SL) partnership. University of Utah Health, University Neighborhood Partners, Salt Lake County, and Latino Behavioral Health Services are coming together to review mental health resources available to residents of Salt Lake County’s west side. We understand that we can’t fully comprehend the needs of west side residents without bringing their voices to the table. In the near future, we will be convening community conversations around mental-health specific needs to conduct a gap analysis of mental health resources. Additionally, we will work side-by-side with community residents to make recommendations to improve mental health access to both Salt Lake County and University of Utah Health leaders.

In addition, University of Utah Health retrofitted our Wellness Bus (which typically provided diabetes screening, prevention, and education in west side communities) to a COVID-19 testing location. It was apparent a few months into the pandemic that the virus was disproportionately impacting people of color. We partnered with community organizations such as Comunidades Unidas, Urban Indian Center, Consulado de Mexico, the PRIDE Center, and many others to bring no-cost COVID testing to west side residents.

Communities are made up of the bonds that tie us all together. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown just how interconnected we all really are. We strive to be an equal partner, both in offering our expertise and listening to the experiences of the individuals who make up our community. It is our commitment to collaborate with the intent of better understanding community needs. Thank you for providing us the opportunity to partner with you, and to learn from you.

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Urban Community Research Collaborative

By Ana Antunes, Assistant Professor, University of Utah Gender Studies & Adrienne Cachelin, Sustainability Education Director, University of Utah Sustainability Office

Finding our place in 2020 was challenging. Things that were hidden for many are less so now. For faculty members, the University has allowed for, and even enforced, our physical safety regarding COVID. With our privilege highlighted in this way, several questions emerge:

1. What is the role of a Research 1 university in working towards equity and justice?
2. What is our role in an era when environmental racism is a pre-existing condition for a pandemic that has already killed more than 400,000 people in the United States alone?
3. How do we best engage with neighboring people and places most hurt by sustained systemic oppressions?

Throughout academia, we see calls for equity, inclusion, and anti-racism. We read statements that commit us to this work and yet the road is long and can feel daunting. Researchers must be diligent listeners and lifelong learners.

The co-production of knowledge has become a buzzword in community-engaged research and increasingly in mainstream research as well; this is a necessary beginning. Yet marginalized communities have been the subject of research that is physically harmful, such as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment in 1932 when Black Americans where unknowingly injected with the syphilis virus and denied treatment; or extractive, where data solely serve the careers of researchers, without regard to community members’ needs or expertise. It is necessary to understand that there are bodies of knowledge held by community members who are the experts in their own lives, places, and ecosystems. This knowledge is not easily accessible to academic researchers who have not yet invested time in cultivating relationships and building trust, yet the exclusion of this knowledge can render research projects and processes incomplete. As scholars grapple with collaborative strategies that work towards equity and justice, new approaches, and infrastructures are needed.

URBAN Utah can be a critical part of navigating these challenges. URBAN Utah is the newest node of the national Urban Research-Based Action Network, an association committed to strengthening relationships between academics and community while connecting traditionally siloed areas of work. Locally, we are learning from the Community Research Collaborative what successful equity-based research should look like and research protocols will soon be available. There is movement toward the creation of an institutional review board-like community body that can vet collaborative projects to ensure that research is reciprocal, rather than extractive, and does not reinforce power imbalances, stigma, or stereotypes.

A network of scholars, organizers, educators, activists, and artists engaged in critical, action-oriented research for social justice.

As a network that helps build trust, responsibility, and participation, URBAN meetings, workshops, and projects are spaces of learning, where all participants, community members, and researchers receive and contribute to collaboration for meaningful social and environmental change. In every meeting, workshop, or project with URBAN, we learn something new and are excited by the work being done.

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Reimagining Nature with Equity in Mind

By Claudia Laoyza, Student, University of Utah Department of City & Metropolitan Planning

Where do you find your refuge during a crisis? In Salt Lake City and places across the world, people have found their escape from the emotional and socioeconomic storms of COVID-19 in parks, trails, and natural lands. These spaces have long been community “equalizers” and gathering places and now more than ever their value is truly being celebrated. Simple things like a walk in the park or a visit to a trailhead after a busy workday carry extra relief with so many things being confined to a screen or within the walls of your own home. The renewed appreciation for public lands has been a positive outcome of the pandemic, but with this comes the need to address gaps in access and equity.

Though not in response to the era of COVID-19, Salt Lake City has begun the development of the new Reimagine Nature SLC Public Lands Master Plan that will guide the long-term vision for natural lands, urban forests, and parks through engaged and inclusive community input. The plan will reflect the City’s values of creating public lands that are livable, equitable, and opportunity building. Salt Lake City partnered with Assistant Professor Dr. Ivis Garcia of the University of Utah’s City & Metropolitan Planning Department, along with masters students like myself. The first stage in this master plan creation was to reach people through in-person surveys in public spaces such as parks, trails, grocery stores, and pop-up events. There was intentional effort to engage west side residents and those of racially and ethnically diverse groups to achieve a wider representation of input.

Safety was also a priority in this process. We made sure to wear masks, keep our distance, and get consent before administering each survey. Additionally, an online survey in both Spanish and English was made available at reimaginenatureslc.com and shared via social media. Over 230 local businesses and organizations also participated by posting flyers and sharing the survey on their own social media pages. Groups like Latino Outdoors SLC and Outdoor Afro Salt Lake City were key partners in sharing the need for input with community members. Finally, a series of focus groups were held with hard-to-reach populations (such as those living in permanent supportive housing or Spanish-speaking groups) to create an inclusive and inviting space for feedback. In total, we were able to gather 635 in-person interviews and 3,733 online surveys across multiple parks, trails, and neighborhoods of Salt Lake City.

The goal was to be wide-reaching in our engagement, and I felt that I was able to experience the growing diversity of Salt Lake City as well as come to better understand the gaps in equity, inclusion, and access that persist for communities on the west side. During an in-person interview at Rosewood Park in the Rose Park neighborhood, a life-long resident emphatically shared with me that they felt that tagging and graffiti in local parks had to be viewed through a different lens. They felt that there was no appropriate public outlet for graffiti artists to express themselves, so people found other “canvasses.” They proposed a freestyle wall be installed at the park for artists to openly use for their graffiti projects and provide more opportunities for community members to show their community pride in a constructive way. This idea urged me to check my bias. How often do we associate graffiti in parks with crime rather than art and expression? I wondered how many incredibly creative ideas the community has and the importance of empowering the community to contribute to the transformation of our public spaces. The principle of “nothing about us without us” rang especially true in that moment.

I also had the pleasure of helping host a Spanish speaking focus group with west side residents where they shared how essential public lands are to the fabric of a community. It is where parents send kids after a long day of online school. And, for some working parents, parks provide an informal way for children to remain occupied while they are at work. On a more emotional level, a visit to a community garden is a way to reconnect with their heritage by being able to plant food or carry on traditions from their native countries. For others, having access to parks, trails, and open spaces was the most affordable way to recharge given stringent working conditions and schedules. Changes these residents wanted to see included having signage, activities, and programs that better reflected the diversity of the area. Amenity and maintenance improvements were also discussed, but a sense of belonging in all places was a key theme. Overall, it was a resident’s comment of, “El parque es de todos” or “The park is for everyone,” that made it clear that public lands are where people from all walks of life can come together to recharge and reconnect regardless of who they are. This is a powerful ideal for communities and decision-makers to grasp.

Like many systems in our society, public lands face issues of inequities in both access and amenities. Salt Lake City is ready to continue working with the community to identify ways to bridge these gaps and maintain these vital spaces. With this, I believe that the more we engage, the more we reflect, and the more we are willing to listen to and follow-up on unique ideas of what “Reimagine Nature” means to different people, the closer we will be to a public lands master plan that reflects the needs and best interests of everyone.

To learn more or contribute your input to the Reimagine Nature SLC Public Lands Master Plan.

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In Memoriam: Margarita Satini

By Jake Fitisemanu, Jr., Associate Instructor, University of Utah Ethnic Studies

Margarita’s passing leaves an enormous hole in the heart of our community. She gave her mind, body, and soul to the work and anyone who was blessed to call her a friend is a better person for having known her. She was special because her service was genuine and her advocacy was fearless. She didn’t want to be known for her works, she never asked for the spotlight, she just wanted people to know that she cared, and that’s why she served, why she led, why she mentored. May we continue the work she dedicated herself to. May she rest with the ancestors.

Margarita died on October 27, 2020 from complications of a COVID-19 infection. She was just 50 years old.

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UNP Honored for Commitment to Community Engagement

By Amanda Finlayson Development Director, UNP

Staff at UNP collaborated this past April to write a proposal to the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities (APLU) for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Awards.
When we received notification that University Neighborhood Partners had been selected as a regional winner of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Engagement Scholarship Award, I could not recall why. I remember thinking, “Did we apply for that?” The fog of months of quarantine and working from home had relegated the process to a distant memory that seemed to have happened years, not months, prior.

The regional award qualified us to compete for the C. Peter Magrath Award for Community Engagement. We embarked on the fun and creative process of producing a video that would condense UNP’s near 20 years of work into 2 minutes. UNP hired Charney Heimuli, a talented filmmaker, to do this. She collected footage, staff recorded Zoom interviews, Charney edited and designed, and a beautiful picture of UNP emerged. (View the video on our website).

The APLU recognized UNP and the other three regional Kellogg awardees during a virtual celebration on October 13, at which time they shared our 2-minute video. Abdulkhaliq Barbaar, our Programs Director and long-time UNPer, accepted the award on the University of Utah’s behalf. In addition, later that day, both Abdulkhaliq and Almaida Yanagui, UNP’s Community Organizer & Assistant Partnership Manager, presented to a panel of judges to compete for the national C. Peter Magrath Award for Community Engagement. (Read excerpts of the presentation in the next column).

A week later, we received the notification that the University of Utah, as the home of University Neighborhood Partners, had received the C. Peter Magrath Award for Community Engagement. While this award carries with it the cache of national recognition for UNP and for the University of Utah, it also, perhaps more importantly, recognizes nearly 20 years of enriching, hyperlocal community partnership work.

The University of Utah collaborated with SLC’s west side from 2001 through 2003 to form University Neighborhood Partners. Both the Kellogg and Magrath awards recognize UNP’s continued work to advance community engagement through the convening of university, residents, and local organizations and institutions in ongoing efforts to address resident-identified priorities in education, leadership, and community capacity and wellbeing.

For the past 15 years, I have witnessed remarkable achievements that changed how the University and community work together. I have seen them develop authentic relationships that are mutually beneficial. I have seen faculty and community leaders develop curriculums together and co-teach courses. I have seen faculty and residents co-create knowledge by becoming co-researchers around resident-identified issues and becoming co-authors in published articles. I have seen faculty and community leaders present at local, national, and international conferences regarding the importance of community voices and engagement. I have seen community residents feel a sense of belonging at the University. I have seen the University’s commitment to bringing together faculty, staff, students, and community residents in reciprocal learning, action, and benefit.

We say in Somali, “far shaleethiye fool mydhygaasy.” Through authentic engagement we have been able to become ONE community that is working together to decrease systemic barriers to higher education and create vital connections and opportunities for everyone.

~ Abdulkhaliq Barbaar

Throughout the many years I have worked with UNP, the one thing that has resonated with me the most is the process of Change. Change is a process that does not happen overnight. Change does not happen if you stand alone. Change happens when many voices come together. Change happens through collaboration and partnership work. Change is created through team effort. Change happens when you move from I to WE.

Change has taken place at the University of Utah and in Salt Lake City west side neighborhoods. I have seen and been a part of parents, teachers, and administrators coming together for the improvement of our schools. Parents taking on leadership roles, working side by side with partners as researchers to build partnerships that make change a possibility in our communities. Partnerships that support our youth, partnerships that support our families, partnerships that support our community.

~ Almaida Yanagui

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A Partners in the Park Make Over

By Paul Kuttner, Associate Director, UNP

This year, Partners in the Park (PIP) got a COVID-era makeover.

Near the beginning of the pandemic, over 50 UNP staff members and partners met on a Zoom call to answer a question: What do we do about Partners in the Parks (PIP)? We could no longer gather hundreds of people in west side parks to celebrate, eat, listen to music, connect with local resources, and build relationships. However, it was perhaps more important than ever to make sure people had good information and resources, and that people felt connected instead of isolated in their homes.

The result? Partners in the Park(ing) Lot. UNP staff and partners ran three drive-thru events in parking lots across the west side. Hundreds of visitors came by to pick up gift bags, filled by the Community Advocate Network with donated food, protective equipment, activities, and multilingual health resources. Many also took the US Census from their cars, all while listening to the music from DJ Juan’s tent. These events were announced earlier in the week with car parades through the neighborhoods, featuring the beautiful vehicles of Classic Lowriders of Salt Lake. Residents came out of their houses to wave and clap for these unexpected visitors.

In the end, these were the most ambitious PIP events ever. It took the dedicated work of all UNP Staff and so many partners to plan and run it all. Even University of Utah’s President Ruth Watkins and Associate Vice President Dan Reed joined us to load bags into cars. In the midst of isolation, struggle, and despair we enjoyed the chance to see one another and connect, if only briefly.

Learn more about PIP. We’ll begin planning for summer 2021 soon!